Intrinsic Moral Essence (Goodness 1)
Some big words to describe a simple truth - goodness is within.
I’m working on an image of overlapping circles that puts into picture the relationship between these fruit of the Spirit. As I’ve been working through them, their connections are not only beautiful, but perhaps inherently necessary. For instance, Paul begins his list with love, which seems to be a foundational element for the rest of the fruit. This is likely no surprise to you. But then there are others like today’s.
Goodness is an intrinsic quality. It might be and should be seen in action, but that fruit is actually what we’ll look at in kindness. Kindness is the outward expression of that inner goodness.
So the word in Galatians 5 that’s translated as goodness is a pretty unique word in the New Testament. Paul uses it a few times, and it’s really all about a kind of intrinsic moral goodness. It’s not just about doing good things, but it’s about the quality of character that produces those good things. Jesus doesn’t use the noun form of the word, but almost always uses the adjective, simply good.
In other words, goodness is this idea of something that’s rooted in the essence of a person’s spirit, and it flows out into actions. It’s closely related to kindness, but it has a bit more of a moral dimension. It’s like a generosity of spirit and a integrity of character that reflects God’s goodness.
So when Paul lists it as a fruit of the Spirit, he’s describing a deep-seated goodness that the Spirit cultivates in us as we invite and allow for it. It’s not just about doing good deeds, but becoming the kind of person who naturally produces goodness.
The passage from Matthew I selected today to begin thinking about goodness comes directly after what Jesus says about people who speak terribly of the Holy Spirit (“blaspheming”). It seems that yet again, Jesus is drawing that inherent connection between how the Spirit works in our lives (or does not!). And Matthew 12 as a whole gives several examples of people misrepresenting or misunderstanding what Jesus and his disciples are doing - in particular, Sabbath law & practice and the healing of a man possessed.
And then Jesus launches into this teaching about good fruit and bad fruit, that the source of fruit is the key in whether it is good or bad.
One of the children we’re fostering in our home right now really struggles with her behavior. She’s only four, so it’s quite all right, but some environment that shaped her before she came into our home clearly spoke in stark categories of “good” and “bad.” When we’re reprimanding her for her behavior, she sometimes breaks out in a frenzy of cries, repeating over and over again, “I’m a bad, bad girl! I’m a bad girl!”
We’ve never told her that. Clearly someone has told her, when disciplining her that she, herself is bad. When someone believes this, it’s no surprise that their actions often are bad. So our reinforcement to her is that what she did is bad, but that she is good, and capable of choosing good. This is simplified for a four year old, of course, but we want to set the stage for her that she is a beautiful creation, full of good capacity to do well. That’s the imago Dei - the God-given capacity for goodness.
Jesus is not describing fixed categories of “good people” and “bad people.” This would be an easy categorization to make and we are seeing it often these days, slapped upon various groups of people as a way of separating them out from the whole. But Jesus doesn’t do that. Rather, he is describing what happens when the heart - the inner life - is shaped either by God’s Spirit or by something else.
A fruit of the Spirit, indeed.
Matthew 12:33-37
Either consider the tree good and its fruit good, or consider the tree rotten and its fruit rotten. A tree is known by its fruit. Children of snakes! How can you speak good things while you are evil? What fills the heart comes out of the mouth. Good people bring out good things from their good treasure. But evil people bring out evil things from their evil treasure. I tell you that people will have to answer on Judgment Day for every useless word they speak. By your words you will be either judged innocent or condemned as guilty.
Prayer
God,
Thank you for planting your goodness in us, not a performance, not a mask, but a seed of your own character. By your Spirit, make my heart into a place with the right environment in which good fruit can grow. Shape my inner life so that what comes out of me reflects your generosity, your mercy, your integrity.
Guard me from the voices in the world, in my past, and even in my own mind that try to name me as anything other than your beloved creation. Teach me to see myself and others through the lens of your image: capable of goodness, shaped for goodness, called to goodness.
Make my kindness real because my goodness - your goodness in me - is real.
Holy Father of all creation, I see your loving justice in Jesus of Nazareth. By your Spirit, make me more like him.
Amen.