Episode 547

TODAY’S READING
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9

The idea of clinging to something just means that you will not leave it side when you have a clingy dog or a clingy boyfriend or clingy girlfriend is that there will not leave you alone. And then all of those cases, it’s pretty annoying to have a clingy significant other or even a clingy pet at times. But when it comes to the Word of God and when it comes to that that is good in the eyes of God, we are to be that level of annoyance; we should be on it at all times; we should be holding on for dear life, and so the idea of clinging to what is good has to come from the perception that you know what is good. So, what is goodness, you know, what does the Bible say about good? And so I did a little bit of research, and the word good appears 749 times, and sometimes he’s talking about just goodness in general and how it’s a fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23, says But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control against such things. There is no law.

That’s probably one of my favorite verses. We talk about it pretty frequently as it’s a good way of judging how you’re doing when you look at if you are reaping the fruit of the Spirit. So goodness is labeled there. But then, when we go into Galatians 6:10, it says, Therefore as we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong in the family of believers. And so that is a clear instruction that we must do good for all people. And the question remains what is good. And I, later on, read James 1:17. And it says, Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. And so, this is painting a picture that goodness comes from above. It is something that our Father gives us, and it is constant is consistent. It does not change because it is coming from someone who does not change, like shifting shadows. And so here we have Psalm 145:6, which says The Lord is good to all he has compassion on all he has made. So we see this time and time again. That goodness comes from above, but beyond that, it comes from the Lord Himself because He is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made that is everybody that is those that we believe have our best interests in mind, those that we disagree with those that we love those that we don’t love. He is good to all, and that is what we need. To hold on to. We need to hold on to the fact that God is good.

Then we get the opportunity to bless others the way he has blessed us, we get the opportunity to bear fruit of the Spirit, and one of those is goodness. Because again, the Spirit is given to us by the Lord, and we know that we have an opportunity to do good to all people. And we get to do that because we have goodness. And it’s just all one big loop. Good comes from the Lord. He gives us good gifts. He gives us a spirit that reveals goodness, and therefore we have the opportunity to do good to all people. And so, if the question still stands, what is good? We have a clear answer. It is all of the things that come from above.

Prayer:
Father God, we are holding on for dear life to that that is good. Lord, we hold on to your Spirit Lord, the one that resides in us, the one that yields the fruit of goodness. And with that fruit, we bless others the way that you bless them, the way that you love them the way that you do so for us, so we, with our goodness, continue to be good to other people. We continue to point them to him; we continue to show them your ways are higher. Your thoughts are higher. You are good. And we love you for it. You’re a good good father. Thank you for mentioning it 749 times; just how important it is. To cling on to what is good. We love you, and we ask that you bless this beautiful Tuesday. It is in your holy name that we pray. Amen.