You may be of the opinion that if you are good enough you can enter Heaven. The truth is, it has nothing to do with your goodness at all. It is God who is good. Someone said, “If you take God out of good, you are left with a zero.” It is His goodness that made a gateway to true life. Jesus said, “I am the door, the gateway; by me if anyone enters in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture…I am the good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I came that they may have life.” John 10:9-11.
Goodness opens the gates of possibilities. Even after his jealous brothers sold him into slavery, Joseph was able to forgive their betrayal because the goodness of God sustained him. God turns our difficulties into deliverance. His goodness always overrules evil intentions and creates a gateway to blessing.
Genesis 50:20 (Paraphrased)
Joseph said, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”
Practical Application and Assignments:.
Goodness is one of the nine fruit of the Spirit. It begins with a seed that must be cultivated in order for it to grow into an actual fruit bearing plant. The definition of goodness is that which being good in its character is beneficial in its effect.
- Goodness expresses itself in good deeds without the need of recognition. For example, sow courtesy and reap friendship, sow kindness and reap love, sow gratitude and reap reward, and the list goes on…
- Think about it and answer the following questions: Do you treat others as well as you treat yourself? Next question: Do you treat yourself as good as you treat others? Some of us aren’t even on our list. If you had to answer no to either question, you already know your next assignment. If you aren’t good to others, they won’t stay around long. Be good to yourself or you may not be around to be good to others.
“Seek good and not evil so you may live.” Amos 6:14
