The French philosopher, Jean Jacques Rousseau, once said, "Happiness is a good bank account, a good cook, and a good digestion." That is what he would call today "the good life."
There are many today who would agree with him. There are some who say that the good life is physical. They believe it just doesn't get any better than a hot tub, a back rub, and a drink at the pub. But then there are others who say the good life is material. They think that if you've got the mansion, the Mercedes, and the money, you are living the good life.
But God says the good life is spiritual. We read in our text: "The fruit of the Spirit is goodness." Contrary to many opinions, goodness is not feeling good, looking good, or owning good; it is being good and doing good. Since it is the fruit of the Spirit, we know that goodness can only come from God.
Goodness is not something that man manufacturers. It is something that God gives. Rom. 3:12 says, "There is none who does good, no, not one." People are not basically good. People are basically bad. You see, goodness is only possible with God. Have you ever thought about the fact that if you take the word "God" out of the word "good", all you are left with is a big fat "o."
In fact, the word "good" comes from an old Anglo-Saxon word that had the same connotation as "God." "Goodbye" is an abbreviation of the Anglo-Saxon way of saying, "God be with ye." Good literally means "to be like God."
The Lord Jesus said something very revealing on one occasion, both about good and God. The rich young ruler came up to Him, and said, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God." (Mark 10:17-18) Now get that down in your heart. Only God is good. We do know that God is good. Ps. 34:8 says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good."
We know God's work is good. "God works all things out together for good to those who love Him." (Rom. 8:28) We know that God's word is good. The Bible says in Ps. 119:39, "Your judgments are good." We know that God's ways are good. "Every good and perfect gift comes from above." (James 1:17) We also know that God's will is good. Paul spoke of the "good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Rom. 12:2)
If you are going to talk about good, then you are going to have to talk about God. Because without God, there is no good. We don't have to wonder what goodness is. God tells us specifically what it is.
One of the greatest verses in all of the Old Testament is Micah 6:8 where we read: "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Now notice that we are told that God shows what is good. Goodness is not a matter of reason, it is a matter of revelation. Only God shows what is good because only God knows what is good.
We are going to find in this verse of Scripture my definition of goodness, which is this: "Goodness is personal godliness lived out in a practical way." So with that in mind, I want to share with you how to live the good life.
I. The Good Life Is a Life That Produces Fairness
According to God Himself, the first step of goodness is "to do justly." Now when a person is just, he always does what is right. John Wesley, the great preacher and the founder of Methodism, said he lived by this one creed:
Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.1
Let me tell you why it is always important that you do justly, that you do the right thing. You see you on the inside, but others only see you on the outside. You are the only Bible some people read, and you are the only Christian some people know.
Saint Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach the gospel all the time; if necessary use words." We must be extremely careful of what we do, and how we do it, lest we bring reproach and shame to the name of Christ, and be a stumbling block to others who may never hear the gospel, but only see the gospel in our lives.
We're the only Bible
The careless world will read;
We are the sinner's gospel
We are the scoffer's creed.
We are the Lord's last message,
Given in deed and word—
What if the type is crooked?
What if the print is blurred?
Blaise Pascal, the great French philosopher, made a very powerful statement. He said, "Next to the might of God, the serene, silent beauty of a holy life, is the most powerful influence in the world."2
You may think by being good you are not doing a lot of good. But I want to remind all of us of something. Never underestimate the power of even one person to have a tremendous influence by simply doing good; by simply doing the right thing at the right place at the right time.
I came across a profound statement that conveys the importance and influence that one single person can have, doing the right thing at the right time.
In 1645, one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England;
In 1776, one vote gave America the English language instead of German; (thank God for that!)
In 1845, one vote brought Texas into the union;
In 1868, one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment;
In 1875, one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic;
In 1876, one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the United States Presidency;
In 1941, one vote saved the Selective Service System just twelve weeks before Pearl Harbor.3
Now I don't know who those individuals were, but they were great people. Because the truly great person is also a good person, and the really good person is always great. I think one of the reasons why so many think that Ronald Reagan was such a great president, is because he gave off this aura of being such a good person. Nearly everyone who worked with Ronald Reagan has a story about some act of goodness that he performed. One that is relatively unknown is the story of Frances Green. She was 83 years old and lived by herself on social security in a little town called Daley City in California. She had very little money, but for eight years she had been sending $1 a year to the Republican National Committee.
One day she opened up an envelop to discover inside a beautiful thick cream-colored invitation, black and gold writing, from the RNC inviting her to come to the White House to meet President Reagan. She didn't notice the little "RSVP" card. She didn't notice the suggestion that a positive reply be accompanied by a healthy donation. She just thought she had been invited because they appreciated the dollar a year she had been sending.
So this lady took every cent she had, took a four-day train trip across America, and had to sleep sitting up in coach because she could not afford a sleeper. Well, at the appointed time, this little old lady with white hair, while powder all over her face, an old white suit that was now yellow with age, white shoes, white stockings, and an old hat with netting, showed up at the White House gate.
She walked up to the guard and there was an executive with the Ford Motor Company standing behind her. He was watching her and he knows somehow there is something wrong here; that this woman doesn't belong.
She gives her name to the guard. He goes down the list, and then says very coldly, "Your name isn't here, you're not cleared in." She says, "But I was invited." But he won't let her in. Well, she is heartbroken. The Ford Executive takes all of this in, takes Frances Green aside and gets her story. He says, "Stay here."
He goes to the White House, cannot anyone to help him, and comes back out to her. She is standing there looking through the gate at the White House and he says, "Mrs. Green, can you stay in Washington another day or two?" She tells him that she can, and he says, "Good. Go to your hotel and meet me here at nine o'clock in the morning on Tuesday." He's hoping by then he can do something.
She's heartbroken, but she leaves. The Ford Executive goes to Ann Higgins, a Presidential Aide. Ann goes to the President's secretary and tells the story. She goes to President Reagan. He says, "Bring her into the Oval Office when she comes." Well Tuesday arrives, and it was a particularly heavy news day. This Ford Executive knows that Reagan won't be able to take any time to meet Mrs. Green.
Well, he meets Frances Green at the gate. Gives her a wonderful personal tour of the White House. Then he goes by the Oval Office at the appointed time, thinking that maybe she can just sneak a glimpse of the President. They are waiting outside the Oval Office. The National Security Council comes out, generals come out. The Ford Executive just peeks in. Reagan gestures to him and Frances Green walks in.
Now Reagan knows that Mrs. Green is just a little old lady who lives all by herself, who has no wealth whatsoever, has nothing to give him. He's sitting behind his desk. When she walks in, he rises and calls out as loudly as he can so anyone can hear him, "Frances! Those darn computers have fowled up again!
If I had known you were coming, I would have come out there to get you myself." President Reagan went over and took her by the arm, asked her to sit down and he spent a good part of that afternoon talking to Mrs. Green about California, about her life, and about her thoughts on different subjects.
I think that's why Reagan is such a beloved President. All he did was simply take the time and the opportunity to just do a good deed.
II. The Good Life Is a Life That Promotes Forgiveness
The second thing God requires is that we "love mercy." The Hebrew word hesed is one of the most beautiful words in the Old Testament. It is used over 250 times. One English word alone cannot really translate it. Sometimes it is called mercy. Sometimes is called grace. Sometimes it is called love. Sometimes it is called loving kindness. But it is really all of those things and more simply tied into one.
Now you notice he says we are not only to be merciful, we are to "love mercy." I think the reason he said that is this: When you love mercy, then you will live mercy. There is something liberating about mercy, and about goodness; about treating the lowest, the littlest, and the least with kindness and with grace. Saint Augustine once said, "He that is good is free though he be a slave; he that is evil is a slave though he be a king."4
We all know that God is a merciful God, and we all know that God is a good God, but it is amazing the places where you can see how God is both good and merciful at the same time. For example: Did you know that you can see the mercy and the goodness of God in lightning? Now I know that lightning often terrifies us, and I know that lightning can be terribly destructive. But did you know that God is performing a service through that electrical flash called lightning, that without it we could not live.
You see, we need nitrogen for our bodies. Although nitrogen abounds in our atmosphere, we cannot absorb it through our lungs. So consequently, God sends an electrical charge through that bolt of blessing called lightning.
What does that lightning do? It separates the nitrogen from the atmosphere and the rain brings it down to earth. But the task is not completed yet. For now a little bacteria transforms the nitrate into a nitrite, and in this form the plant can absorb it. So when we eat the plant, or we eat the animal that ate the plant, we receive the nitrogen that we need in order to live. But it all comes through a bolt of blessing called lightning. That lightning is a picture of the goodness and the mercy of God.
No wonder we are told to love mercy. Too often I am afraid we love judgment and loathe mercy. When it ought to be the other way around, we ought to loathe judgment and love mercy.
I heard about a shame-faced employee who came before the president of his company. His head was down because he had been caught in embezzlement. He did not know what was happening. The very best he could hope for was to be fired. The very worst that he hoped for was a prison sentence.
The man behind the desk looked at this man with his head down, and said, "Sir, I want to ask you a question. Are you guilty?" The clerk said, "Yes sir, I am guilty. I have been embezzling for several years."
Then the president said, "I want to ask you another question. I shall not press charges against you because if I did it would surely mean that you would go to prison. But if I forgive you, and if I keep you on this job, can I trust you from now on?"
This employee said, "Sir, if you will forgive me and give me another chance, I promise you with all of my heart and soul, as much as is in me is, that you can trust me." Then the president's eyes filled with tears, and this is what he said: "You sir, are the second man who fell and was pardoned, I was the first. I, too, committed a crime just like yours." Then he said, "The mercy that I have shown you is the mercy that I myself received. May God have mercy on us both." I can tell you, that man understood the good life. It is a life that promotes forgiveness.
III. The Good Life Is the Life That Proceeds From Faithfulness
The last thing we are told is that goodness is "to walk humbly with your God." Now we learn what the real secret and the real source of goodness is. It is walking with God. Are we not told "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." (Ps. 37:23)
Isn't it sad that civilized man has learned how to fly, but he has lost the art of walking with God.
You see, the truly good person will have a walk with God, because goodness is the work of God. What God is telling us is this: Being good comes before doing good.
Merv Griffin was once interviewing Charlton Heston. He played the part of Moses in "The Ten Commandments." Merv Griffin asked Charlton Heston if playing Moses had any impact on his spiritual outlook. Charlton Heston thought for a moment, and then simply said, "Merv, you cannot walk barefoot down Mount Sinai and be the same person you were when you went up."
My friend, without a walk with God, you cannot be good, but if you do walk with God you cannot help but be good.
There are some who say that goodness is a matter of the head. They say if you know what is good then you will do what is good. But we know that is not so. Paul said in Rom. 7:19, "For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice." The fact of the matter is, as I have told you before, you educate a thief, and all you will wind up with is a smart thief.
There are some who say goodness is a matter of the hands. They say that goodness is simply treating others good. The fact is, doing good does not make you good. There some murderers on death row who are good to their mothers, but they are not good people.
No, goodness is not a matter of the head nor a matter of the hands. Goodness is a matter of the heart. Jesus said in Mt. 12:35, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things." Goodness is not a matter of what you know, nor what you do. It is a matter of what you are. Goodness is not a deed that you do; it is fruit that you bear. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit living in you.
The fruit of the Spirit ripens, but it never rots. No matter how good you are, as you grow in the Lord and walk closer to the Lord, you will find that your goodness will get even better.
Good, better, best;
Never let it rest
Till your good is better
And your better best.
That is what happens when you truly have a walk with God.
Have you ever thought about the fact that a musician is judged not by how long he plays, but by how well he plays. You know what really matters to God is not how long you live, but how good you live.
Sir Francis Bacon once said: "Of all virtues and dignities of the mind, goodness is the greatest, being the character of the Deity; and, without it, man is a busy, mischievous, wretched thing."
Some of you will remember the days of the Susan B. Anthony dollar. It only lasted for three years, and there is a very good reason. It looked too much like a quarter and people didn't like all the confusion. The public said loudly and clearly that a dollar ought to look like a dollar, and it ought to look like it's worth four quarters, not just twenty-five cents. That coin that many thought would revolutionize our monetary system, seemed like "chunked change", and fell out of circulation.
My friend, the world expects believers who call themselves Christians, to be good and to be godly; to be the real thing and not a cheap imitation. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "I would have become a Christian if I had met more true Christians. This world is full of badness; what it desperately needs is goodness that is produced by knowing Jesus, loving God, and bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
1. Eleanor Doan, Speaker's Sourcebook, p. 114.
2. Bill Bright, The Secret, p. 161.
3. Cited by Charles Swindoll, Esther, pp. 76-77.
4. John Blanchard, Sifted Silver, p. 126.