GRACIOUS
GOODNESS
BREAD
22 But
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
8 For
you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of
light 9 (for
the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the
Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV)
9 Love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9 (NIV)
21 Do not
be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
11 With
this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of
his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours
and every act prompted by your faith.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NIV)
11 Dear
friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from
sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the
pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good
deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
7 In
everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show
integrity, seriousness 8 and
soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may
be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:7-8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Something happens
when we come to God for His grace and mercy--something that is so radical and
so amazing that it can only be described as death to our old selves. It is the
overwhelming desire to please the One who has loved us with such amazing and
unconditional love...I may not get better overnight; I may not be the fine,
upstanding, and wonderful Christian I thought I was, but I now have a desire to
please the One who loved me (and gave Himself for me). That desire is the soil
in which goodness grows--not perfectly, by any means, but it does grow.” Steve
Brown
“God is not merely
good, but goodness.” C.S. Lewis
“Christians no
longer need to pretend to be better than anyone else. We don’t have to put on any show of being
good, for we know we are not. We are not
good—we are forgiven; and so we are free to be honest before God and before
others. We are free to be
ourselves. We have given up trying to be
good little boys and girls, and whenever we catch ourselves striving to please
either God or others by dint of moral effort, we are the sort of people who
react to this danger signal by falling on our faces before the Lord. For one of the secret privileges of being His
child is knowing that it is all right to fail.
It is all right to get tired…as His followers we know that if we are
ever truly to reflect His goodness or His power, it will not be by human effort
by only by grace.” Mile
Mason
“Any thought or
activity is to be eschewed or cut down if it does not bring the Christian
towards their goal of heaven but serves rather to retard and impede them on
their good course. For this simple
reason, every action, thought or word - that is not one of piety and goodness -
one must lift up their axe against.” BHY
“Goodness is
something so simple: always live for
others, never to seek one’s own advantage.”
Dag Hammerskjold
“God
hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to
pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all
goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.” Thomas Brooks
HEART SAVOR
- · Goodness comes from God and is defined by God because God is good and is the source of all that is good.
- · I am to manifest God’s goodness to others through His power. I cannot muster up good within me because apart from Christ I am not good.
- · I am to set an example by doing what is good - overcoming evil with good.
