Oh, for Goodness' Sake!

Among the greatest of shames in western culture, for Christians and non alike, is the short-changing of the virtue “goodness”. It too sadly resonates with most folks as a pat-on-the head notion, void of any captivating nuance. Ground zero for the mild mannered. A ho-hum merit among those that exist without causing much fuss or grief.

But scripture sure doesn’t interpret things this way. And if goodness is the pure offering that flows from the good, many seekers of truth might need to rethink the whole thing.

Jesus did not call himself “The Good Shepherd” as a throwaway handle. This is a profound metaphor, spoken to enthral us.

After each Genesis creation account, when we’re told that “God saw, and it was good”, we are meant to be no less than in complete awe.

And, of course, the very Gospel we position as our source for Kingdom comprehension and as the roadmap for abundant life is solely interpreted as “good news”.

Not only does Jesus spend every word and action of his brief human life projecting and modelling goodness as nothing shy of marvelous, but, ever- contextualizing Christ, Paul the Apostle then later offers the greatest of all day-to-day challenges we will ever know in this lifetime: “Do not grow weary of doing good...”.

Even “fruit” as the Galatians 5:22-23 representation lends itself to the nutrient of goodness unlike all the rest; the best tasting fruit is always so good!

Oh, that goodness might abound as one’s ceaseless Kingdom expression and experience.