Goodness
Goodness - Part 4: Goodness to Strangers
Posted on Saturday, April 18, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Most of us are comfortable being good to people who look like us, live near us, believe like us. But the Bible doesn’t let us stay there. Exodus 22:21-22 is startling in its specificity: “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” The sojourner. The foreigner. The outsider. God’s people were foreigners once — captives in a land that wasn’t theirs.Goodness - Part 3: Goodness in Relationships
Posted on Friday, April 17, 2026 at 12:00 AM
The hardest place to be good is usually the closest place. You can be kind to a stranger on the street. You can smile at the barista, hold the door, drop a few dollars in the offering plate. But then you go home — or you answer that text from your brother, or you sit across from your spouse at dinner — and suddenly kindness feels impossible. The people who know us best have the most power to hurt us.Goodness - Part 2: God's Goodness With Us
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2026 at 12:00 AM
There is a phrase in Psalm 23 that never lets go: “Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Not goodness and mercy came once. Not goodness and mercy waited for me at the end. They follow. Present tense. Active. Stalking me with kindness. David wrote that as an old man, looking back on a life that had included shepherd boy and fugitive, king and failure. And he said: the goodness didn’t run out.Goodness - Part 1: What Goodness Is (and How It Differs from Kindness)
Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Someone says, “He’s a good man.” It sounds like a compliment, but lately I’m not so sure what it means. Good at his job? Good to people who agree with him? Good in the way the world defines it — polite, successful, non-threatening? The world has a word for goodness. The Bible has a different one. Last week we looked at kindness — love that responds, love that reaches out, love that bends toward the hurting.Goodness in the Fire: Syrian Pastors Who Stayed
Posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 2:00 PM
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16 In a world where many flee danger at the first sign of trouble, a group of Syrian pastors is choosing to stay—and their goodness is shining brightly in some of the darkest circumstances on Earth today. The Story Christianity Today recently reported on pastors in Syria who have remained in their communities despite ongoing violence, displacement, and persecution.Fruits of the Spirit: Goodness
Posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 8:00 AM
🍇 Fruits of the Spirit: Goodness (Agathosyne) Moral excellence Date: Wednesday, March 04, 2026 The Foundation “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” — Galatians 5:22-23 Today we focus on Goodness. Goodness in Scripture Matthew 5:16 - Let your light shine before others.\n- Romans 12:21 - Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.\n- Psalm 23:6 - Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.Goodness: More Than Being Nice
Posted on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 at 6:00 AM
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. — Galatians 5:22 When we hear the word “goodness,” most of us think about being nice, polite, or not hurting others. But God’s definition of goodness runs far deeper than surface-level behavior. What God Considers Goodness Goodness isn’t just about checking boxes or being a “good person.” Throughout Scripture, goodness is tied directly to God’s character and His commands.