“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness…” (Galatians 5:22)

We are now to take on and bear another fruit of the Spirit; that is, “goodness.”

The Greek word is “agathōsunē”; the state of being good, kind, virtuous, benevolent, generous, and God-like in life and conduct.

What a wonderful fruit to bear in the Christian life – showing forth the love of God. Let’s examine the Word of God concerning this fruit of the Spirit. We see it first as an attribute of God.

Moses asked God to show him His Glory. God responded by telling Moses “…I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee…” (Exodus 33:18-19; also see 34:6).

God’s goodness will follow the Child of God:

(Psalms 23:6a) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…”

Those that walk by faith in the goodness of the Lord shall in due time walk in the sight of that goodness:

(Psalms 27:13) “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

The Word of God tells us of the goodness of God to those that fear Him:

(Psalms 31:19) “Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!”

If a Sovereign God can show His goodness to mankind, which we do not deserve; how much more should we show goodness to one another.

I am reminded of the Good Samaritan who showed kindness to a man who had been robbed and beaten. Now there were two others who had looked upon this certain man, a Priest and a Levite; a religious people; men of standards, supposedly. They walked around him to the other side. Why are we, those who profess Christ, not more compassionate, loving, and kind towards one another? (See Luke 10:25-37.) What a great lesson there is to be learned from these Scriptures concerning the Good Samaritan.

This fruit of kindness should be manifested in the Child of God. How would we want others to treat us, especially if we had been in the position of this certain man? It could be that a house fire consumed everything; or sickness. Whatever the circumstances may be, we would want someone to show goodness towards us.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – The Golden Rule: “…Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

Do we, as professing Christians, bear this fruit of the Spirit?