ARE YOU SEARCHING FOR GOODNESS OR FOR GOD?

When we start Kindergarten, we learn some basic things such as how to tell the difference between two objects. We learn which objects match and those that do not.

The same is true with the word of God. There are certain things in our lives we can match one to the other.

The one concept people tend to mismatch is goodness. When we try to match goodness with anything but God, it is incorrect.

The word "goodness" comes from the root word "good," which means "morally excellent."

One of the things God said after he created each day was, "It is good." In other words, he was saying it pleased him. So we see the word "good" pleases God.

When he created mankind He said, "It is very good."

When God referred to his creation it was truly at the stage of perfection. It had not been tainted by sin. When he created mankind, he didn't say, "It is good." He said, "It is very good." The scripture also says we were created in His image, in the image of God. We were created pure, holy and righteous before the Father.

And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)

The scripture refers to God as being good. If this is true, then we can say goodness refers to holy, pure and right.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. (Psalm 136:1)

Once sin entered into the world, all things changed. Mankind made a mess of things. We see in Mark's gospel that there is none good except for God himself after the fall of mankind.

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. (Mark 10:18)

There is a group of people that say they are striving for the goodness of mankind. They connect goodness with keeping the earth clean and other programs that promote this type of morality. They strive to be great outstanding citizens.

What they don't understand is that although many of them say they don't believe in God, they are still pursuing his character. God's very character is goodness.

Their inner being is still striving for purity, holiness and righteousness even though they have convinced their mind that there is no God.

We find our goodness in God, for he is good. In Christ we are complete for he is our all in all.