The Fruit of the Spirit is Goodness

1. Read: Galatians 5:22-23

2. About the Text:

1) Goodness – uprightness of heart, kindness, virtue, beneficence.

a. It is a quality of God – 2 Thessalonians 1:11.

b. It is a quality of the Christian – Romans 15:14

c. It is the quality of being good – the actions of a good person.

2) Man cannot define what is good.

a. Psalm 14:1-3

b. “For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not” (Romans 7:18).

3) It can only come from God.

a. “You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:68).

b. “So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mark 10:18).

4) Goodness comes from God’s Spirit and informs our spirit through His word.

5) The goodness of God leads us to repentance – Romans 2:4.

3. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. God is love.

1) “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

2) Goodness comes from God’s character of love.

3) “For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11).

2. We must love like God loves us.

1) Matthew 22:39-40.

2) Romans 12:9-19

3. Goodness comes from practicing love.

1. God cares for others.

1) “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

2) “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).

3) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep” (John 10:11, 13).

2. Goodness means we will care about others.

1) Caring means that we take notice of other people as people.

2) Genesis 1:27 – everyone is made in God’s image.

3) John 3:16 – Christ died for everyone.

4) What do we see when we see other people?

5) Parable of the good Samaritan – Luke 10:34

6) A caring person sees souls and what another needs to grow and flourish.

7) Our greatest need is Jesus – Luke 10:42

1. God is the greatest giver.

1) James 1:17

2) John 3:16

2. We must give of ourselves to other people.

1) Time, Talent, Resources.

2) Matthew 25:14-30 – Parable of the talents.

3) Give yourself away to others.

3. If we are just living life for self, then we are on the wrong path.

1) “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:25-26).

2) “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21).

1. God’s works benefit others.

1) “The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9).

2) “For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands” (Psalm 92:4).

3) “For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other’” (Isaiah 45:18).

2. Do we do our works for the benefit of others?

1) “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28).

2) “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

1. God made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His Son to die on the cross.

1) “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).

2) “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

3) “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

2. We must sacrifice for others also.

1) “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

2) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).

3) “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16).

1. Goodness

1) Originates in Love

2) Cares About Others

3) Gives to Others

4) Works for Others

5) Sacrifices for Others

2. Invitation