What Is Goodness?
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May 16, 2010 |
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 "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)
Just the way 1 John 1:5 says, "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all," God's children have to take after Him and accomplish goodness that is without any evil. To the extent that you cultivate goodness, you can enjoy great honor in Heaven and receive all of the complete rewards for everything you do here on earth. What should you do to be recognized for goodness by God?
First of all, you have to completely and thoroughly hate and abhor evil.
Since evil is the opposite of goodness, to cultivate goodness, you obviously have to hate evil. People say that they long for goodness, but in reality they have lingering attachments to the world and they cherish evil. With their lips they pray that they want to become sanctified, but in their everyday lives they do not cast off evil. They just continue in their old habits.
For example, if somebody wants to be truthful, he has to hate the evil called falsehood. He shouldn't just think, 'I won't lie anymore.' But he has to thoroughly hate the fleshly nature of telling a lie. Otherwise, he may pray that he wants to be truthful, but when he goes back to living his life he will soon forget what he prayed for. If he gets into a situation where he can gain some benefit from it, he will lie again. Of course, after lying he may have some more pangs of conscience and pray again, but in time he will just compromise with the situation thinking that it will just be 'the last time'.
But if he really hates the nature of falsehood in him, he will never tell a lie even if he has to suffer a great loss. Likewise, you first have to understand how dirty evil is. You have to know how harmful and shameful a thing it is for you. When somebody goes through a trial due to his evil, he will engrave how harmful that evil is in his heart.
Let me give you an example. Suppose a person got angry about something and then he suffers from bad cold for several days. Even though he has received prayer for the sick he still has a high fever. In the meantime, he remembered that he got angry and he repented. When he received the prayer for the sick after that, suppose that the fever and cold went away. After having such an experience, he sincerely tries to cast away anger. It's the same with other sinful natures. Whether it is an adulterous mind, arrogance, hatred, envy, or jealousy, once we go through a great trial because of them, we will understand how much harm they bring upon us (Psalm 119:71).
But if we are wise enough, we can cast away those evil natures without having to undergo painful trials. We can learn a lesson from others' examples: realizing our own evil, and then casting it away. In addition, if we realize the severity of a certain form of evil after going through a trial, we can also realize the severity of other forms of evil. As written in Romans 12:9, "Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good," we have to thoroughly hate evil and cast away all forms of evil without accepting even the slightest bit of evil.
Secondly, you have to cast away fleshly thoughts.
For those who are good, not only their actions, but also all their thoughts and words are good. Even though we try to do something good, if our heart is not good, our work cannot be recognized by God as being good. Thoughts that are not good, and the thoughts that are not of the truth are all fleshly thoughts. If you long for goodness, you will try to avoid any evil thoughts and have only thoughts of goodness. Even though others do something evil to you, you do not harbor hard feelings but try to understand and forgive them. You don't pass judgment just by seeing the outward appearances; you look at their good points rather than bad points and try to think from their point of view.
But some people lose the peace of their mind due to fleshly thoughts and yet do not realize they are having fleshly thoughts. They say they are trying to act with goodness but they do not really please God because they act within their own fleshly thoughts.
Thirdly, you have to cultivate spiritual love.
As written in Romans 13:10, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor," if we have love, we will not do evil but bear good fruit in all things. Here 'love' does not refer to fleshly love that is after all self-seeking love, even though it seems very ardent. In fleshly love, if the things are not personally beneficial, a person may even do evil to another person.
In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, we can understand that we can cultivate goodness only when we have spiritual love. One son received the inheritance money from his father in advance. He lived a lavish and wasteful life and returned home looking like a beggar. When his son came back with a repentant heart and mind, the father was just so pleased that he threw him a big party.
But the elder son, this prodigal son's brother, came back home after working all day outdoors. He was unhappy seeing this scene. It's because his father never held any parties for him although he worked hard obeying every word of his father all the time. To him his brother deserved a great rebuke, but his father gave this son a big party as if he were some hero instead. So, this elder son couldn't understand his father. He tried to think in a good way, but the more he tried, the more he felt that he deserved to get angry over the situation. He felt victimized for he thought he deserved more than what was already given to him. If this brother insists on thinking about what is right or wrong, he cannot change his thoughts. Only fleshly thoughts will come into his mind, and he won't be able to think anything in goodness.
Then, if you were in his shoes, how would you act? Although you can't really understand your father, would you try to understand in goodness thinking, "I will try not to complain because this is what my father is doing. What my brother did is wrong, but it's good that he came back home safely"? Still even this is not goodness. You try to act in goodness, but we can't say you are really good. It means you don't understand the good heart of the father, and the action is merely suppressing your evil. Suppose the father keeps on comforting the younger brother saying, "You are not in good health. Eat something good. Rest just a bit more. How do you feel?" Then, wouldn't the elder brother get angrier and angrier?
But if he has love, he won't feel that way. If this elder brother loves his younger brother like his father loves him, he won't have any judgment or disappointment. Just like the father's heart, he will be just so thankful that his brother came back home safely. He must have pity on his brother who looks like a beggar, and just want to comfort him. If he wants to think about what is right or wrong, or if he has uncomfortable feelings, it is because he doesn't have love. Because he doesn't have love, he has to try to bear with it, and if he can't, then he will act out in evil. If you love somebody, you want him to prosper. Even if he does something wrong, you still trust him. You give good things that you have and you sacrifice and serve.
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