Living Beyond Yourself -Session 7 -Kindness and Goodness

Then your light will break forth like the dawn...

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness...

[Isaiah 58: 6-11 snippets]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness..."

Galatians 5:22

1. Love never fails. 2. Joy cometh. 3. Peace rules. 4. Patience waits.
5. Kindness tenders. 6. Goodness does.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Strangely enough, there was an urgency to Beth tonight. Why would kindness and goodness be that serious? You figure it out and share your thoughts.

In this post here, I showed the definitions from the Greek roots of the words. Kindness is the more obvious of the two, revealing a tender disposition. Beth focused on "goodness" in this session, which she described as "character energized, expressing itself in benevolence, active good." She gave 4 points to help us understand:

1. The most foundational truth about God is that HE IS GOOD.

-What God does is good because of the good it does. (See Genesis 1; Matthew 7:17)
When God created, He pronounced it "good" because of the benefit it would give, the fruit.

2. We are called to do good works.

Ephesians 2:10 states, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

3. Do not become weary in doing good...do good to all people, especially the Body of Christ.

Beth describes "weary in doing good" as "to give in to trouble; to become exasperated by difficulty, be defeated in spirit, discouraged, or faint-hearted; to despair, lose heart."

I am certain that we can identify with at least one of these descriptions, if not all.

Beth quotes from Galatians 6: 7-10...

7"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

4. If we 'spend' ourselves in doing good as God describes below, your light will rise in the darkness, the Lord will guide you always; your needs will be satisfied, your frame will be strengthened; you will be like a well-watered garden. God Himself will be your 'rear guard',

not only covering your back, but gathering the harvest from the seeds you have sown. She quotes from Isaiah 58:6-11 here:

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter

— when you see the naked, to clothe him,

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;

you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

Beth talked about our culture perpetuating self absorption which leads many times to the darkness of depression. This is rampant in Christian circles, especially because the western brand of Christianity emphasizes 'individual' faith. Perhaps, if we start or continue to 'pour out' into others' lives, the light will penetrate our darkness and our healing and recovery will quickly appear. God knows what we can handle. Look at today, who has He allowed to touch our lives? Ask His Spirit to nudge you, let you know how you can pour out. Leave to Him the rest. Just obey. You do not need to see the results. It is His harvest.

Father, I confess to the sin of self absorption, fear, and selfishness which has perpetuated my cycles of depression. Please reveal to me where I can pour out your love today and how. Give me wisdom to be a good steward of my time, energy and emotions. Let me be a good role model to my sons. Let them not be self absorbed, but have a servant heart, a heart for the oppressed. Show your kindness to me today. In Jesus' Name, I pray, Amen.