"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22)
The Bible says that it is the goodness of God that will lead sinners to repentance and salvation. The quality of goodness is another real powerful quality to have operating through you.
This particular quality has a real drawing power to it. Not only does the goodness of God draw people direct to Him, but this fruit of goodness operating in a believer can draw people direct to God through the actual believer. Spirit-filled saints who are walking with many of these fruits operating through them are like a magnet. Many people who have been saved through an individual believer say that what drew them in was the love and goodness they saw shining through that believer.
Jesus says that we are to carry His light and we are to let that light shine before men and not attempt to hide it. Part of His light are these 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit shining through an anointed believer. Nonbelievers are really drawn to someone who has some degree of these nine fruits manifesting through them.
However, there is something extra special about the quality of goodness. Many Christians can effectively witness to others by just living right and being a good example and role model for others to follow. Many nonbelievers carefully watch and study some Christians because they know there is something different about them.
One of the key qualities a nonbeliever will pick up on in a solid Christian is this quality of goodness. This quality has an ability to really get down deep into the core of a believer's personality. To those who really have this quality, you can tell that it is something operating deep down inside of them. This quality is not something that waivers like some of the other qualities can. These people are good down to their very cores of their personalities. You can see it and feel it when you get around these types of people.
As a result of seeing this God-like goodness deeply ingrained into their personalities, there is an immediate drawing towards them. You feel safe around them because you know you can totally trust them and you know they would never deliberately hurt you.
Children are quick to sense and pick up this quality in people who really have it. These types of Christians draw children and adults to them like magnets. This is why this particular fruit and quality is so important for each Christian to have. With it, you can easily draw many more people to the Lord.
If the goodness of God will lead people to repentance and salvation - then the goodness of God operating through an anointed believer will have the ability to draw nonbelievers into salvation. And the goodness of God can be transmitted and worked up into your personality through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can have the actual goodness of God shining through you to reach others if you are willing to work with the Holy Spirit in this sanctification process.
Now here are some of the different definitions of what this quality is all about:
Beneficence, ready to do good, love in action
Kindness in actual manifestation, virtue equipped for action, a bountiful propensity both to will and to do what is good, intrinsic goodness producing a generosity and a Godlike state or being
The word beneficence means the fact or quality of being kind or doing good
This particular quality is a very powerful fruit to have operating in your personality because of the drawing power it has in it. And the beautiful part about this fruit is that this quality is so pure in its goodness - it doesn't have any manipulative qualities within it.
In other words, a truly good person could not even begin to try and use you or manipulate you for his own personal gain because he is too good and too righteous to even begin to think along those lines. This is why these kinds of people are so trustworthy, and why so many people are drawn to them - because you feel so safe by just being around them.
Article written by Michael Bradley, you can get the complete article on the fruits of the Spirit - You can also receive 20% off retail on all Christian books and Bibles at his online christian bookstore. |
