The last few weeks my heart has been drawn to the goodness of God.
Goodness is one of God’s attributes. He is always good! He can’t be anything but good. God is love and everything He does is motivated by love. His love is never tainted with selfishness or envy so everything is does is good.
This is what James was trying to get us to see.
“My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created. 19 My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. 20 Anger does not help you live the way God wants.” James 1:16-20 ERV
Don’t attribute the bad in your life to God. When you do you are misguided in your thinking. The enemy, the one responsible for the destruction in this world, takes pride in getting you to mistrust God and to loose your confidence in His goodness.
Instead we need to focus on the good and the perfect. These are the gifts God gives to us freely. It started with the gift of salvation – there is no greater expression of God’s love and His goodness. He provided a way for us to have relationship with Him. It cost us nothing; it cost the Father his Son!
Jesus told his disciples that He came so we would be free from the enemy’s tactics and could have an abundant and good life.
“A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV
This is the same promise that the Psalmist, David, wrote about hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth.
“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:1-3 NLT
King David knew that God was good and His plans for our life were good. He never wanted to forget all that God had promised – He wanted us to remember that we were forgiven, healed, and crowned with love. Or as Jesus said, we have a full and good life.
Each day the Father is showering our lives with good gifts. Look for them and give His thanks.
“Praise the Lord because he is good. Sing praises to our God. It is good and pleasant to praise him.” Psalm 147:1 ERV