What do you understand about goodness? All of us have different perceptions of goodness. The Word of God encourages us to “taste and see that the LORD is good” (Psalms 34:8). We all can discover the goodness of God. What is considered good? Anything that is right, beneficial, reliable, sound and excellent is considered good. In this perspective, I would like to share what I have learnt at the Church Prayer Meeting on 4th September.
At Church Prayer Meeting, Pastor Ronnie shared on “The Fruit of the Spirit – Goodness” by pointing us to the goodness of God. He shared that the goodness of God is seen through the immanence of God. The word “Immanuel” is derived from this word “Immanence”. The word “Immanuel” means “God with us.” By being with us, God demonstrates His goodness to us. God is willing to be up and close to us. He longs for us to have a personal relationship with Him. Having this relationship with God, I am grateful to God for His goodness shown towards me. Likewise, I would like to show His goodness to others by being up and close to them. Building relationship with people takes time and effort. I would like to take the initial step of relating with the believers in this community. Just as God opens up Himself to me, I want to open up myself to others, starting from my own care group, and then to others. It is not easy for me to open up to others. Being introvert and reserved, I need the grace of God to overcome my inhibition to be more open to others.
Pastor Ronnie also shared that the goodness of God is seen through the holiness of God. God has to deal with sins because of His holiness. That is why He has to send His Son Jesus to take away sins once for all. He took the initiative by sending His Son Jesus to Earth to die on the Cross for our sins. On the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus lives forever to be your Saviour and mine. The goodness of God is demonstrated in His wonderful work on the Cross for us. God purifies us from all unrighteousness. God wants us to live a holy life because He Himself is holy. According to 1 Peter 1:14-16, the Word of God says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Having understood the holiness of God, how should I proceed from here? I should constantly search myself to see if there are any wicked ways in me. This week, a daunting thought came upon me. I was surprised by this unpleasant thought. “What is my motive in praying for others?” When I approach someone after services to talk with and to get to know better, I will usually offer to pray for them and their needs. “Are you satisfying your own ego or are you really showing love to others?” This thought came across my mind. It kept me alert, thinking and searching myself for a while. At once, I realised that I might be feeding my own ego when I did that. I do not want to do things out of duty and out to please myself but out of the love of God and out to please the living God. Whenever there are sins in my life, I must confront them and deal with the wrongs at hand. By doing this, I will remain pure and holy in God’s sight.
Pastor Ronnie also shared that the goodness of God is seen through the love of God. In 1 John 4:9-10, the Word of God says, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God loved us by reaching out to us and became one of us. He took on human form through His incarnation, through His beloved Son Jesus. He saw our wretched sinful condition and redeemed us. The life and ministry of Christ, the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ are a demonstration of God’s great love for us. God through His Son Jesus reconciles us to a right relationship with Himself. I personally was drawn to Christ Jesus by His condescending love for me. I turned my heart to Christ because of His great love towards me. I am redeemed by the precious blood of Christ the Lamb and I am forever grateful to God for His Son. God reconciled me to Himself with His gentleness and by His love.
I am able to show goodness to others because I am a recipient of the goodness of God in my own personal life. I have tasted the goodness of God. So, I would like to share this goodness with others. Do good to others! Yes, let us do good to others because God is good to us. This has been my desire and will be my desire: “Do good to others!” Let us show the goodness of God to one another. We demonstrate God’s goodness to others because we ourselves are the recipients of His goodness. You have tasted of the goodness of God. So, you would want to share this goodness with others. Let us reflect the goodness of God in our daily lives. Amen.
