June 19

Read: John 15:1-5

The fruit of the Spirit is… goodness (Galatians 5:22).

Goodness

My church asks that I give evidence of God’s grace in my life by: “Seeking to do good to the bodies and souls of men; feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and ministering to the needy, as opportunity and ability are given.” The Bible says, “The fruit of the Spirit is… goodness.” My heart yearns for more of that fruit.

Goodness is difficult to define in any simple terms. Perhaps it will help to call it kindness in action. Goodness is love that has put on its overalls. The good shepherd went out to find the lost sheep. The good Samaritan bandaged a man’s wounds and cared for him. Though this quality of life is not easy to define, I have no trouble recognizing it; and instinctively I know that it is right. Tennyson speaks to hearts everywhere:

Howe’er it be, it seems to me ‘Tis only noble to be good.

But this goodness is a fragile fruit. If I examine it too closely, a worm starts to hatch at its core and may eventually spoil the whole. When I feel satisfied with the size of this fruit, it withers. Any self-congratulation destroys it because goodness is not mine. If it is present in me, it is the fruit of the Spirit, who is my Life. I gladly acknowledge the words of my Lord: “The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine.”

Affirmation For Today

I now yield myself anew to the pruning of the Heavenly Father to be as good a man as I ought to be, to be the fruitful branch that He desires.