A 40 Day Journey to Becoming Like the One We Follow
Day 8: Goodness (Luke 6:35)
Are people generally good? Like, on average is the typical person you come across on any given day a good person? How would you know?
I think we all have our moments. Sometimes we go above and beyond to be good and to do good. Other times, we're calling down curses on the bad drivers with our kids listening to us in the back seat.
Are you a good person? It depends, doesn't it?
One of the funniest exchanges in the gospels is when the rich guy comes up to Jesus and greets him as "Good teacher." Jesus quips back, "Why do you call me good. There is only one who is good, and that's God." Jesus saw through this guy's flattery. Because even though Jesus was God in the flesh, this random rich guy didn't know that. Jesus takes his flattery and throws it back in his face.
Because I think deep down we realize how not-good we are. Maybe we aren't "evil" or "wicked" all the time. But we're definitely not good people all the time either. In fact, Scripture calls us all out. There is no one who is good, not even one! Our "good deeds" are like "filthy rags" (literally, used menstrual pads).
But Jesus calls us to a higher standard. The litmus test for goodness is imitating God who is good and gracious even to those who deserve it the least. Jesus calls us to do good to our enemies, not just those who are good back to us. And this isn't a fake goodness, either. People can spot fake goodness a mile away.
When we are filled with the Spirit of the One who is good, then we will do good and be good as part of our very nature, too. In other words, we will most fully become the men and women God created us to be. Because he is good, we will be good to others - yes, even those frustrating drivers.