THE WORD: “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God . . . . With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:17, 26
THE POINT: The source of all true goodness is the Lord GOD Almighty. Only God is good! True goodness is determined by the source. If the source is God, then it’s truly good. Anything else is not good . . . not really.
There can be no genuine goodness apart from God. Since God alone is perfect, only He can achieve perfect goodness.
Humans are not perfect. Thus, human goodness is incomplete; it is never good enough. Human goodness doesn’t last—it’s temporary, it doesn’t satisfy—there is always a need for more, and it’s never good enough—it always needs to be improved.
Some might argue that there are people who do good all the time. That may be true, but according to whose standard? And how good is good? Society has set certain acceptable standards that are deemed good or bad.
Actions can be described as either morally or socially good. A person’s actions may look good, feel good and even be considered morally or socially good, but if it’s not God, it’s not good . . . not really.
Genuine goodness is a God thing! Doing good is what God does. That is why it is only fitting for Jesus Christ to be referred to as the “Good Master.”
After all, Jesus is God incarnate. Since God is truly good, then Jesus, as God in human form, is also good.
We are told that Jesus went about doing good (Acts 10:38). When it comes to doing good, Jesus is the only one who can do a truly good job!
THE APPLICATION: Doing good is impossible for us as humans. So, what hope is there for any good to come out of your life? Plenty! Since all things are possible for God, God is your only hope of doing anything good.
Therefore, in order to do good, you must have Christ in your human form. You first need to be sure that you have received Christ.
When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are born again of the Spirit of God. The source of all goodness comes to indwell you. As you allow Christ to live His good and perfect life in you, He will go about doing good through you.
So, stop trying to do good with your fleshly human efforts. It won’t work! Instead, allow the One who is good—Christ Himself— to do good through you.
Then you’ll be doing good because of “the Good Master” who indwells you. And that’s true goodness!
THE PRAYER: “Dear Lord Jesus, I thought that because I was doing good, that made me good. But now I realize that the Source of all true goodness comes from You alone.
I now confess that any human good which I have achieved is mere filthy rags compared to You. Therefore, I yield myself completely to You so that You can fill me with Your goodness. I trust You to enable me to do good as You live Your life through me.”
By Dr. Lewis Gregory/https://www.sourceministries.net/go/
