GRACIOUS GOODNESS
BREAD
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV)
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9 (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.
2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NIV)
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:11-12 (NIV)
7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
Titus 2:7-8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Something happens when we come to God for His grace and mercy–something that is so radical and so amazing that it can only be described as death to our old selves. It is the overwhelming desire to please the One who has loved us with such amazing and unconditional love…I may not get better overnight; I may not be the fine, upstanding, and wonderful Christian I thought I was, but I now have a desire to please the One who loved me (and gave Himself for me). That desire is the soil in which goodness grows–not perfectly, by any means, but it does grow.” Steve Brown
“God is not merely good, but goodness.” C.S. Lewis
“Christians no longer need to pretend to be better than anyone else. We don’t have to put on any show of being good, for we know we are not. We are not good—we are forgiven; and so we are free to be honest before God and before others. We are free to be ourselves. We have given up trying to be good little boys and girls, and whenever we catch ourselves striving to please either God or others by dint of moral effort, we are the sort of people who react to this danger signal by falling on our faces before the Lord. For one of the secret privileges of being His child is knowing that it is all right to fail. It is all right to get tired…as His followers we know that if we are ever truly to reflect His goodness or His power, it will not be by human effort by only by grace.” Mile Mason
“Any thought or activity is to be eschewed or cut down if it does not bring the Christian towards their goal of heaven but serves rather to retard and impede them on their good course. For this simple reason, every action, thought or word – that is not one of piety and goodness – one must lift up their axe against.” BHY
“Goodness is something so simple: always live for others, never to seek one’s own advantage.” Dag Hammerskjold
“God’s goodness is the root of all goodness; and our goodness, if we have any, springs out of His goodness.” William Tyndale
“God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.” Thomas Brooks
HEART SAVOR
• Goodness comes from God and is defined by God because God is good and is the source of all that is good.
• I am to manifest God’s goodness to others through His power. I cannot muster up good within me because apart from Christ I am not good.
• I am to set an example by doing what is good – overcoming evil with good.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 