The Kindess and Goodness of God

Of all the qualities of the Spirit, goodness and kindness are the two I strive for the most. It is one of the reasons I started this study. I felt like I wasn't being a good enough person to myself and everyone around me. I have let the world consume me and make me bitter. That in turned made me someone I didn't want to be. In my younger days, I always wanted people to know that I was a good person and I would be there for them no matter what. I had always told my friends that anytime the needed me day or night, even at 3 in the morning, I would be there. If they needed someone I wanted them to know they could always fall back on me. I feel over the past couple of years I have gotten away from that. I think some of my life experiences has hardened me and I just shut down. I didn't care anymore if people viewed me as a good person. I knew who I was, or thought I knew, and I was ok with that. After being unhappy with myself for so long I realized I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. I wasn't the same girl all those years ago.

One day during a pity party I was throwing myself, I remembered an interview I saw with Whitney Cerak and a motto she tried to live by. (Whitney was the girl who was in a horrific car crash and was mistaken for another young girl about her same age.) She had posted in her room a sign that simply said "well done my good and faithful servant." Whitney said that's what she wanted God to say to her when she met Him. She wanted to live her life doing good and serving God. I sat there thinking how awesome would that be to get to heaven and have God take you in His arms and say those words to you. For me, it would be like having my parents tell me they were proud of me but multiplying it by a trillion. I knew in that moment I had to make a change or that would never happen to me.

This lesson came at just the right moment for me because I was reminded that just simply thinking I was a good person meant nothing unless I was doing something. In the video, Beth keep referring to several different passages in the bible where it talked about goodness and the act of doing good. The first one was Genesis 1. After each element that God made that benefited man, He said "this is good." Ephesians 2:10 "...so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." There were a few more but these two examples stuck out to me the most. In Genesis, God was doing something that helped someone else. He was creating a world that would make those who lived on it happy and they would be able to enjoy His creation. Ephesians is just a reminder that we are here for a purpose. We are here for Him and to glorify Him as He had planned.

It makes sense that when talking about being good you would also have to discuss the act of it. Thinking about all the people who I think are good, they all serve others. They all do what they are called to do. I love having these duh moments with myself when I realize that if I would have just thought a little harder about being a good person it would have involved me doing something. I mean I can't call myself a good person if the only one I'm doing good for is myself.

Each week I am really glad I decided to take the journey with God. It has opened my eyes to so many things that I may not have picked up on if I wasn't doing a daily study. I have always been told that having a daily devotion is important but never really thought so until now. It is amazing the turn around my mind and heart has made by being with God on an intimate level daily. My hope and prayer is that you feel the same.

*Side bar...I hope in reading this each week you are not overwhelmed with my grammar and spelling mistakes. I have just recently started re-reading my posts and I realized that I miss a lot even after I proof read. I usually try to find a time when everything is settled in the house, but it seems to never fail that the dog comes and bounces at my heels every half second or my husband comes back every 30 minutes to see what I am doing. I apologize and I would love to totally blame them but grammar and spelling have never been my strong points. I had to call myself out so you all don't have to bless my heart! :)