Embodying Goodness: A Call to Transformative Living

 

Summary

In today's reflection, we explored the profound concept of goodness as a fruit of the Spirit, emphasizing its transformative power in our lives. We began by celebrating the tangible goodness of God, as seen in the lives of baby Koa, Lauren, and Benji, and acknowledged the challenge of embodying goodness ourselves. Often, our understanding of goodness is limited and superficial, reduced to mere non-disruptiveness or conformity to societal norms. However, the New Testament offers a compelling vision of goodness through the life of Jesus, who exemplified truth, service, and sacrificial love.

Jesus is the epitome of goodness, demonstrating qualities such as mercy, kindness, and moral excellence. His life challenges us to redefine goodness beyond societal expectations and to aspire to a higher standard. The Greek word "agathosune," used by Paul in Galatians 5, encapsulates this rich and multifaceted goodness, which is not just about outward actions but an integrity that flows from the inside out.

The transformation into this kind of goodness is made possible through Jesus' sacrifice and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Our old nature, marred by sin, is replaced with a new heart and spirit, enabling us to grow in goodness. This transformation is not about self-effort or willpower but about allowing the Spirit to work within us, reshaping our hearts and minds.

We are reminded that our external actions are a reflection of our inner life. To cultivate goodness, we must guard our hearts and minds, filling them with what is noble, pure, and lovely. This involves spending time with God, allowing His presence to influence and transform us. As we abide in Him, we begin to reflect His goodness, impacting the world around us.

Ultimately, the call to goodness is a call to live as children of light, bringing justice, love, and service into a world in need. It is about feasting on the abundance of God's goodness and allowing it to overflow into every aspect of our lives.

Key Takeaways:

- Redefining Goodness: Goodness is not merely about being non-disruptive or conforming to societal norms. It is a profound, noble, and beautiful quality exemplified by Jesus, who spoke truth to power and served others selflessly. This vision of goodness inspires us to aspire to a higher standard. [36:12]

- Transformation Through the Spirit: Our capacity for goodness is made possible through Jesus' sacrifice and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This transformation is not about self-effort but about allowing the Spirit to reshape our hearts and minds, enabling us to grow in goodness. [36:12]

- Guarding Our Hearts: Our external actions reflect our inner life. To cultivate goodness, we must guard our hearts and minds, filling them with what is noble, pure, and lovely. This involves spending time with God and allowing His presence to influence and transform us. [36:12]

- Living as Children of Light: The call to goodness is a call to live as children of light, bringing justice, love, and service into a world in need. It is about feasting on the abundance of God's goodness and allowing it to overflow into every aspect of our lives. [36:12]

- The Power of Influence: Who we spend time with significantly impacts who we become. By spending time with God, we open our hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit, allowing His goodness to rub off on us and transform us into His likeness. [36:12]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:12] - Celebrating God's Goodness
- [01:45] - Defining Goodness
- [03:30] - Jesus as the Epitome of Goodness
- [05:10] - The Greek Concept of Agathosune
- [07:00] - Transformation Through the Spirit
- [09:15] - The Heart of the Human Problem
- [11:30] - New Creation in Christ
- [13:45] - The Role of Influence
- [16:00] - Guarding Our Hearts
- [18:20] - Living as Children of Light
- [20:00] - The Power of Abiding in Christ
- [22:30] - The Impact of Influence
- [24:00] - A Life of Abundance and Goodness
- [26:00] - Closing Prayer and Benediction

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."
2. Ezekiel 36:26-27 - "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
3. John 15:4-5 - "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

Observation Questions:
1. How does the sermon describe the common misconceptions about goodness in our society? [00:12]
2. What qualities of Jesus are highlighted as examples of true goodness? [03:30]
3. According to the sermon, what role does the Holy Spirit play in transforming us into people of goodness? [07:00]
4. How does the sermon illustrate the impact of spending time with God on our ability to reflect His goodness? [16:00]

Interpretation Questions:
1. How does the concept of "agathosune" challenge our traditional understanding of goodness? What implications does this have for how we live our lives? [05:10]
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that our external actions are a reflection of our inner life? How does this relate to the biblical passages discussed? [09:15]
3. How does the sermon explain the transformation from an "old nature" to a "new creation" in Christ? What does this mean for our daily lives? [11:30]
4. What does it mean to "abide in Christ," and how does this practice influence our capacity for goodness? [20:00]

Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your current understanding of goodness. How does it align or differ from the vision of goodness presented in the sermon? What steps can you take to align more closely with this vision? [01:45]
2. Identify an area in your life where you struggle to embody goodness. How can you invite the Holy Spirit to transform this area? [07:00]
3. Consider the influences in your life. Are there any that hinder your growth in goodness? How can you adjust your environment to foster a more positive influence? [16:00]
4. How can you actively guard your heart and mind to ensure they are filled with what is noble, pure, and lovely? What practical steps can you take this week? [18:20]
5. Think of a situation where you can bring justice, love, and service into the world. What specific actions can you take to live as a "child of light" in this context? [18:20]
6. Reflect on a recent conversation you had. Did your words reflect a heart full of goodness? How can you ensure your speech is more life-giving in the future? [24:00]
7. Choose one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit to focus on this month. What specific action could you take to cultivate it as part of your interactions with your family or community? [26:00]

Devotional

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Quotes

"God is good and therefore the work of the spirit in our lives is goodness because we are also being made good now I have all the fruit in this series I think goodness might be one of the most challenging to define appropriately goodness sometimes has a bit of a bad reputation in our world have you noticed this like we see this in kind of faux negative statements someone actually said to me this week oh yeah she's all right but she's a bit of a goody two-shoes do you know that phrase um it's got this bad reputation." [00:11:54] (39 seconds)


"Jesus changed everything see the death of Jesus made it possible for us to be forgiven the death of Jesus made it possible for the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within us and because we have the Spirit of God living within us transforming us we now have the capacity for goodness the cross of Christ and the infilling of the Spirit transforms what can feel like an impossible standard up here into an invitation into reality by the Spirit of God you are being made good you're being filled and transformed with goodness." [00:11:54] (41 seconds)


"God became man to turn creatures into sons not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man it is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature of course once it has got its wings it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game and here's the thing about our new birth when we give our lives to Jesus we are immediately forgiven and made new." [00:11:54] (37 seconds)


"Who we spend the most time with has a significant impact on the person that we're becoming and the same is true in our relationship with God the more we spend time with him the more we begin to look like him we open up our hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit I've been thinking a lot this week about that idea of influence we have people in our culture who make a very healthy living out of being what we now call an influencer it's incredibly lucrative people watch me they spend time consuming my content not mine you understand but if I was an influencer they watch me they consume my content therefore I have influence over them and therefore I can make them buy things." [00:18:15] (56 seconds)


"There's this amazing story in exodus 34 when moses goes up mount sinai to have this incredible encounter with god and he spends time with god and it says that here god gives him the 10 commandments and moses spends this time with god up the mountain and when he comes back down his face is literally shining it's radiant moses has spent time in god's presence and god's presence and his glory and his beauty has in some tangible way rubbed off on him and scripture says he comes down and his face is radiant but he's unaware of it and the others ask him to cover it to put a veil over it because they're terrified as you would be but when you and i spend time in god's presence the same thing happens to us god rubs off on us we begin to look more like him." [00:18:15] (57 seconds)


"Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it guard your heart above all else above all else guard your heart see we guard the things that are important to us don't we we put a lock on the door we buy a safe to keep our valuables in we use a padlock we guard our treasured possessions but how do we treat our hearts how do you treat your heart the bible says above all else your heart is to be guarded are we careful about what we allow into our inner lives are we guarded in our thoughts thoughts and our attention the bible says more important than any precious possession is your heart and you are to guard it because from it flows your whole life." [00:33:15] (56 seconds)


"I'm convinced that growing goodness is less about abstinence it's less about oh I'm trying to restrain from that or stop myself from doing this or that I think it's less about fasting from bad things and more about feasting on good things filling our hearts with light a life of goodness is a life of abundance a rich life of beauty and truth and excellence and loveliness it's not about just staring clear of bad things it's not like you know the movie footloose where we become joyless and miserable and can't dance but it is about the pursuit of righteousness it is about filling our hearts and our lives with light and beauty." [00:35:05] (44 seconds)


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Transcript
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