"Goodness"

“I’m good. How are you?”

Have you ever noticed that the general public answers “good” every time they’re asked how are you? The word good is used to describe our feelings or analysis of our external circumstances. What you’re initially saying is “I am good” as a result of analyzing your circumstances. For example, when someone asks me “how are you Jenny?” my mind instantly replays everything that has taken place that day to give an answer. I may think, ew, I found a hair in my salad at lunch, or so and so didn’t express the enthusiasm I thought they should have when I said hi to them, or I accidentally ran into the wall on my way out the door (which I do quite often). I collect my analysis and declare that my day was “not so good”. It seems as though I have trained myself to evaluate my situational goodness. The term good has become a skewed vision of how we determine our outside influences, not an observation of our internal state of being declared good because of God’s goodness. Maybe this is why we have such a hard time believing that God is intrinsically good(meaning it belongs to Him by His very nature) because we are so used to looking around us to decipher what is good or not so good instead of looking to Jesus and His word to help us determine what is really good! I will still probably answer the same way when I’m asked that age old question, but with a new perspective of thanking God that He is good no matter what my circumstances might say at the moment! Do you find it hard to believe that God is good even when things surrounding you seem very bad?

Galatians 5:19-20 “For the fruit of the Spirit is…goodness…”

By: Jenny Clark, Girls Ministry Intern