The knowledge and the practice of GOOD is one of the challenges that Christians and the society face. In considering the doctrine of Good, I sought to see it from both the secular and spiritual definitions. I was indeed surprised at the results. For both were unequivocally in agreement unlike the norm. Webster’s Dictionary defines Good in several forms that includes ‘ virtuous, kind, serving its purpose well, having a desired qualities, efficient to beneficial” Again the Bible speaks of good attributes such as in 1 Timothy 6.12 to fight the good fight of faith and in 1 Peter 4. 10, where we are advised to be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
So if both the secular and the spiritual definitions agree on good wherein lies the problems that exist with us in our personal lives and societal actions. The answer lies in the understanding we give to good. In essence, how do we relate good to the choices we make? How do we know that what we say is good is indeed the correct interpretation? What is the difference between the perception of worldly good and spiritual good?
We may wish to begin by asking who determines what is good for the answer to that will provide a better understanding to other questions. This issue of ‘good’ came up in a discussion Jesus had with a disciple who wanted answers to the question of eternal life
“Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him” Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One that is, God....” Mathew 19. 16 -17NKJV
Jesus clearly defined good as ONLY coming from God who is Himself the embodiment of Good. Therefore to understand the good about anything is to get that wisdom from God and to do otherwise is to be open to self delusion, errors and deception. That is what is prevalent in the choices that are being made by people, corporations and nations. It is to help us in this quest for good that we are told
“Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead trust and reverence the Lord....” Proverbs 3.7
Saul is an example of a wrong perception of good.
“And Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord...Acts 9.1KJV
In his own words:
“For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it” Galatians 1.13NKJV
Saul believed albeit in error that he was genuinely working for the good of God (Judaism and its practice). He did it with zeal. Yet he didn’t realise it was a self delusion and misconception of the ‘works’ of God. Saul’s change did not happen because of some intellectual reasoning but by the wisdom of God (in a dramatic way) that came to him as he was on his usual assignment. Thus the zeal in fallacy was turned into the right one and today we are all beneficiaries of his accomplishments.
The same lesson can be seen in the life of Kevin Mitnick, a once notorious hacker who was No 1 on the FBI wanted list for hacking into the systems of government agencies and big corporation and releasing sensitive confidential information to the public. His actions caused a lot of danger to people, corporations and a lot of grief to his family. In the end, he was caught and served six years in jail. He is today a reformed man, an author and international speaker on cybercrime using his skills for a better cause. In an interview, he stated that he regrets his past activities because he erroneously thought he was doing the right thing in “wanting to stretch his intellectual boundaries and passion”
The lessons we can learn from Saul and Kevin is that it is often a very thin line to discern what is good by ourselves. There are so many interpretations we can ascribe to our actions based on our beliefs and backgrounds and so, we cannot all arrive at the same conclusion. How can you reconcile the actions of the suicide bomber who believes he is acting on a good cause in killing innocent people and his faith in God? Or those who say they are pro choice for abortion because they believe that a foetus is not considered a person until three months? The business person who markets pornographic magazines and believes he is into adult entertainment (never mind the consequences on society and family) and gets applauded by society? Or the minister of God who uses fear and deceit in his sermons to put the children of God in bondage upholding himself as their ‘saviour’ and believes he is actually feeding the flock of Jesus? The list is endless but what all they all have in common is the deception of self righteousness of ‘good’ in their actions.
We should take a cue from Jesus, when He was called good by His disciple, He told him that only God is Good. Why did Jesus give such a perplexing answer? Is He saying that He is not good? No, Jesus was a person of great spiritual insight. He knew that the disciple’s appellation of Good teacher was a ploy to ensure that he will get an answer that is pleasing to him. Thus Jesus quickly settled that ‘trick’ by ascribing the Source of Good (and commendation of good) to God. Note that the disciple asked what good can I do to have eternal life? When Jesus told him the things he was comfortable with, he accepted it. But as soon as Jesus told him what was not ‘good’ in his belief, the reaction was different:
“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” Mathew 19.22 NKJV
In order words, the man had a concept of ‘good’ commandments that didn’t include the love of money which was what Jesus wanted him to see as the aspect of his life where he needed a change. It was not about selling his property in the literal sense but He used it to bring a clear picture of his problem to him.
Just like that young man, we live in a world where they are conflicting standards of good and if we are sincere, we also have such double standards. I cannot tell enough of how subjecting myself to the work of Holy Spirit has rid me of a lot of such faulty notions of good and I am still a work in progress. It is a very thin line between self delusion and spiritual truth and all the intellectual resources on the earth today CANNOT help anyone or else why is our society made up of each of our individual actions plummeting into disorder and chaos on a daily basis. Too much self righteousness that‘s why!
Jesus ascribed the knowledge of good to God. That is wisdom for only God can guide us into the good of our desires and actions
“He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you” Isaiah 30.19
In another place, He says
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3.5 NKJV
Too often, we are leaning on the knowledge that comes from our senses and opinions of men, but that can often be misleading and deceptive or in some cases limited in scope. A good example is the US policies in the ongoing Arab uprising across the various Middle Eastern countries. I have watched with amusement the vacillating applications of their policies on the concept of ‘good governance’ across board especially with their vocal stand on ‘the human rights of people’. It is a yoyo one. Here are three countries of a few and make your conclusions.
In Egypt, with the unrest that took place to unseat Mubarak, the US government was very silent at the beginning even when some nations began to call for their intervention as ‘the defender of the world’ and for the United Nations to act. While Mubarak was emboldened with the continued inaction of the world and was unleashing violence on his people, the US government was preaching a policy of non intervention and people power. When the writing was clear that Mubarak was about to fall, they quickly jumped in with vigour shouting that he should go.
In Libya, with the same scenario as Egypt, you could not keep the Americans from invasion. It was as though that country was an extension of theirs and they were protecting it from some enemy action. They were both vocal and active to ensure Mommar Ghadaffi’s removal.
In Bahrain, where they have a military base, they went into both a silent inactive mode even as the world was speaking against the horrible manner the king unleashed violence on his people who wanted his dictatorship rule to end.
All of these positions the US government took was a clear variation of what they perceived as ‘good’ regardless of their human rights and good governance stance. So whether it was Saul, Kevin, the disciple or the US government, the actions they took were based on their concept of good even though it was a faulty one. To remedy this type of reasoning, only through the eyes of God can we really evaluate what is good.
“ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” James 1.17NKJV
Good as seen from above description of God is certain. His good does not change to suit people neither does His wisdom and guidance waver regardless of how good is viewed by the world. In Genesis 1.31, He spoke about creation in eternity being good. That is still the form of creation and we only need to allow Him guide us into the experience of His good. His standards are the same yesterday, today and forever.
We need to each take a step of repentance to God to teach us the good in every situation so that we may have the testimony of Jesus.
“ And you no doubt know that Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power and he went around doing good.... for God was with him” Acts 10.38 Living Bible
The reason why we are on earth is to do the works of God and not just speak of them only. Jesus emphasised this:
“Verily, Verily I say unto you. He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do....” John 10.12 KJV
It is clear that Jesus’ assignment included good works and that is the nature of work we are called to do. We are a light that shines in the dark places because of our good works. We are to show the wisdom of God in an active not passive way. The world does not have the standards of God so why do we allow them to influence our lives?
The fruit of the Spirit includes goodness - Galatians 5.22. The experience of good can only come from a daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Fruits do not spring up by themselves, they are a product of seeds sown in a good soil ( Mark 4.14, 20) Allow Him to plant the Word in a receptive heart and your life will overflow in goodness in word and deed.
Begin today if you haven’t already to spend time specifically to ask the Holy Spirit to help you re- evaluate your ‘good’ works: those thoughts, words and decisions for you may not know that in some of those, you have acted like Saul, Kevin, the disciple, the US government and myself. If you take that step in sincerity, you will be amazed at the level of ignorance displayed over the years which needs correction. Be open and flexible too to making adjustments that may sometimes be inconvenient to your comfort zone. Don’t be like that disciple that came close to perfection and walked away. Never walk away from the loving correction of God for that is one step closer to destruction.
In making new decisions or building new mindsets and re- evaluating the old ones, STOP, PAUSE for some minutes and ask yourself some pertinent questions. Is this decision or thought pattern based on the good that is of God or my own wisdom? Test all spirits to know that which is of God. Hold on to the good and discard the bad no matter how popular or attractive.
Good is not easily discerned from just intellectual wisdom but from spiritual guidance. Bill and Gulliana Ransic wanted advice on how to have a good marriage; So Bill went to Donald Trump in his opinion as the right person. Trump’s advice? Get a pre –nuptial contract. The mere concept of a pre-nuptial contract already proves that the marriage is not of God for He does not sanction such carnal acts. Consider that Trump is on his third marriage and both parents of Bill and Gulliana have been married for a total of over seventy years and are were happily married
( Bill’s father died some years back)
Yet Bill and Gulliana did not initially give thought to these facts. In the end, the wisdom of God prevailed and they got married without a prenuptial contract having now considered the marital backgrounds of both parents and their determination to marry the right way..
God is good and only He can determine and guide you to what is good so that in the end you will be a light showing His glory in all you do. You may not win the popular vote but you will always win the delight and commendation of God and in the end that is ONLY AND TRULY WHAT COUNTS!!!!
YOU CAN READ OTHER MESSAGES IN THE NOTES SECTION
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