Goodness is defined as the quality of being morally good or virtuous. Scrolling through social media, I often find videos where a human being performs some out-of-the-ordinary act of goodness to another person or animal, usually accompanied by the phrase “faith in humanity restored,” either in the title or the comment section. I find each story I watch incredibly inspiring, but the whole thing also gets me thinking: Isn’t that how it should always be?
In a world where evil abounds and acts of goodness seem so isolated, we, as followers of Jesus, are called to express this fruit of the Spirit more than ever. Wouldn’t it be awesome if, through our goodness, instead of just leading others to experience a restored faith in humanity, we went a step further and led them to experience a restored faith in Jesus? Faith is the next fruit of the Spirit we’ll talk about.
Goodness without agendas
Dorcas’ strong suit was expressing goodness without an agenda, or at least without a selfish, secret agenda. Known for her uninterested aid for the poor and the widows, she dedicated her life to channeling the sewing talent God had given her to bless her community and those who came to know her.
We don’t find much written in the Bible about her. But, with the little we get, it’s enough to see how her illness and death impacted her community. Acts 9:38-39.
Impacting with your goodness
Maybe it’s just me, but it sounds a little violent, the whole “impacting” thing. However, Romans 12:21 says to overcome evil with good. If that is the case, we can’t go through life giving out some feeble, bashful, unstable, and undecided goodness. We’ve got to be unabashed!
Dorcas’ story in Acts chapter 9 doesn’t end with her death. She resurrects! I won’t give you the details because I don’t want to spoil it; you can read it! 😀 Acts 9: 36-43.
Her death was a big deal in town because her life was a big deal, too.
From Dorcas’ example, we learn to use the talents God has given us to uplift those around us. From her life, we learn to live out goodness, not just in theory but in practice.
I’m sure you have many talents. So today I challenge you to choose one and think about the ways you can impact others for good.
You may also like: