Building Character- Goodness

Goodness….It is the sixth Fruit of the Spirit that is taught to us in Galatians 5:22.
Goodness is described as “As not a mere passive quality, but the DELIBERATE preference of wrong to right, the FIRM and PERSISTENT resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.”
Now that has a completely different twist on what your average person would qualify as “Goodness”. Ask yourself what you would have defined the word “goodness” as. Maybe just being “good”, maybe just trying to make decent choices in life, or just plain ol’ “not a bad person”. Think about all the times you’ve heard “he’s/she’s such a good person”. Being a “good person ” does not qualify as the same definition here! It’s directly related to being MORALLY good or bad. Remember it’s a DELIBERATE step FROM WRONG TO RIGHT!! When we are ACTIVELY teaching our children to be “good” we have to intentionally steer them to deliberately choose the right thing to do and to follow up with …..”the why”!  Why do we want to “do the right thing”? When we teach them the “WHY” behind doing the right thing and that obeying both God and Mom and Dad is GOOD, that builds a solid foundation in VALUES and CHARACTER.  If a parent only says “No” without teaching Gods principles…. it will eventually create legalism which ALWAYS produces REBELLION!  The Bible is full of those examples!!!  We are called to teach values NOT RULES!
There have been so many parents I have spent time with and encouraged through “bumpy” times with their children that I always remind them….if you have instilled the very foundation of goodness while they’re young… Deliberately choosing morally right, doing the right thing… even if they stray, even if it takes a while, even if it takes a long time, they will always always come back to that solid foundation that was planted in them. If you can picture your child being bungee strapped and running as hard and as far as they can from God, from the values you raised them with, and in the completely wrong direction… Through your prayers(Our battle position)and through that foundation instilled way back…. they WILL bounce back “Home” by the grace of God!!!  It doesn’t matter if they are 2 and you are just now creating this foundation or if they are 30 and have strayed….God can reach them!!!!
So, stay encouraged and stay CONSISTENTLY(this is key) training up your children in the GOODNESS of God and they will resemble Gods Goodness- deliberately choosing what’s right!!!