God: God Is Good

Psalm 119:68 says, "You are good, and what you do is good." Everything that God does is good, because goodness is a part of God's character.  Psalm 145:9 says, "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." God is always good and He is good to everyone. Jesus said, "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45).

We all experience God's goodness every day in countless ways that we aren't even aware of.  Every blessing in your life is a sign of God's goodness. You've probably had one of those moments when everything came together in your life and it all seemed just about perfect. Did it make you say, "Thanks, Lord. You are good!"

God is good even when everything isn't perfect in our lives. In fact, God is good even when everything is falling apart.  God's goodness doesn't come and go.  It is a constant in our lives.  That's why Paul says that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Romans 8:28). Even our worst days contain signs of God's goodness.

Because God is good we don't have to worry about being good enough to earn his favor.  God delights in doing good things for his children, just like any good parent, even more so.  It pleases Him to show us his goodness by forgiving us, by blessing us, by graciously giving good things that we have not earned or deserved.

What does this mean? We do not have to live our lives in fear. God is good and is eager to do good to us. We should rejoice in His goodness every day.  We need to keep our eyes opened and our minds attuned to God's goodness in our lives so that we can give Him thanks and praise.  Because God is good to us, we should be good to others, not repaying evil for evil but showing goodness to everyone we meet.  In this way we will shine the light of God's goodness in their lives.  Goodness is one of the fruits of the Spirit that should be evident in our lives because we know God and have experienced his goodness.