Fruit: Goodness
October 20, 2019
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! —Galatians 5:22-23
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GOODNESS
It’s a virtue meaning: uprightness of heart and life, kindness, so GOODNESS is built off of KINDNESS…
The word for GOODNESS has a very special use in the Bible describing a type of person that despite loss or damage, rebuilds, revives, and reGROWS into a life with more vitality, hope, passion, and determination to follow Jesus.
Elijah in 1 Kings 17, goodness out of total loss with the widow. Goodness from loss.
Avocado trees cannot grow alone.
They need another avocado tree around to pollinate. Just like we cannot grow in goodness w/o others around us too.
This is why Jesus puts us around all kinds of people!
Like kindness, goodness also aims to do things that will generate life in you.
Iron sharpening iron, which means there’s friction and a shaving off of rough edges;
○ LIKE SHARPENING AN AXE.
● Who is sharpening you?
We need our brokenness regenerated into life so we can share that goodness with others.
We will always struggle to generate life in the broken around us if we are continually looking to others to fill us.
Spoiled Fruit:
MANIPULATION is the spoiled form of goodness.
The only control we possess with goodness is in giving it away.
Did you know that some Mexican avocado trees are over 400 years old.
Plant seeds, water them, stick to doing what you can do, and let Jesus bring the fruit in that person.
Putting Goodness in Action
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.
4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith. —Galatians 6:1-10