When Kindness Moves: Cultivating the Fruit of Goodness
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”—Eph. 2:10 (ESV)
In our last reflection, we considered kindness. Have you wondered, as I have, how that is different from goodness? I’ll have to admit, what I wrote in that post isn’t a lot different. They are certainly related.
But being the curious sort, I did a little poking around and liked how Jerry Bridges explains it. Kindness is the heart disposition that mirrors God’s own tender care. Kindness begins within: a sincere desire for the happiness of others, a sensitivity to their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
But kindness, if it is genuine, cannot stay hidden in the heart. It must take shape in action.
This brings us to goodness. While kindness begins with a feeling, it moves into action with acts of goodness. Bridges describes goodness as kindness in action—words and deeds that actively seek the welfare of others, even when it costs us something.
This goodness is often not glamorous or heroic. When I read Eph. 2:10, I often think of grand gestures, when in actuality, it is most often in the ordinary. This can look like serving at home, faithfulness in our vocations, or caring for the needs we notice around us. While it might be “big things,” it extends to the everyday goodness we show simply by displaying kindness in deliberate and generous ways right where we are.
The Source of Goodness: God Himself
As with all the aspects of the fruit, we find true goodness in the heart of God Himself. Goodness is not something He simply does—it is who He is. Like His love and sovereignty, His goodness is essential to His very nature. Without it, He would not be God.
Unlike lesser gods, the Lord overflows with goodness that always has a direction: it is bestowed on His creation, revealed in His acts of kindness, and most perfectly displayed in Christ’s love on the cross.
Because He is good, we can trust Him—even when life feels hard or evil seems to triumph (Ps. 27:3; 34:8). He is for us, not against us (Rom. 8:31). The cross is evidence of this. He did not spare his own Son from hardness and evil, and Jesus willingly obeyed and persevered through that pain knowing that at the end is something even better and greater. Will we trust His good intention in our own situation too?
What Christlike Goodness Looks Like
Besides trusting Him, as God’s children, we are called to reflect His goodness—not because we are inherently good (Rom. 3:12; Ps. 16:2), but because His Spirit, who is helping us conform to the good nature of Christ, dwells within us.
Through Christ’s sacrifice and the Spirit’s power, we are remade to walk in the good works God prepared for us (Eph. 2:10). As we meditate on His goodness to us, this is what motivates us to show goodness to others, as a display of God’s love.
To be precise, Christlike goodness is different than being a “goody-goody,” striving to earn approval, or pleasing people. Rather, it is a desire to reflect God’s heart by confronting evil, resisting sin, and shining as lights in a dark world.
Even when costly, it brings deep satisfaction, for God promises to reward every good we do in His name (Eph. 6:8). Though I may grumble (and often!) of the daily work it takes to care for our disabled daughter, deep down I know that this care pleases God—and that brings me comfort, knowing my labors are not in vain.
Practicing goodness takes time and community. God made it clear that it is “not good” to be alone (Gen. 2:18). Doing good together unifies us and heartens us to keep going when it’s hard to keep doing good.
Growing in Goodness: Tending the Garden of Your Heart
Christlike goodness is not abstract; it takes root and grows in the soil of everyday life. The following helps us nurture goodness in practical ways.
1. Prepare the Soil: Rooted in Faith
Unbelievers may perform good works, but apart from faith, these are self-efforts or expressions of personality that cannot ultimately please God. True goodness begins when we are united to Christ by faith, because only then can the Spirit reshape our motives and desires.
God does not simply call us to do good; He calls us to be good in Him. This requires surrender, prayer, and dependence on His Spirit, who alone makes our works fruitful in His sight.
2. Water the Garden: Renew the Mind
Our culture often defines goodness in shifting, subjective ways, but Scripture reminds us that only God is good, and true goodness is what pleases Him. His delight is in righteousness (Ps. 11:7), and we learn what He loves through His Word.
This renewal requires transformation—being changed in how we think (Rom. 12:2), giving thanks even when life is hard (Lam. 3:38; Ps. 92:1), and drawing near to God as our refuge (Ps. 73:28). Loving His law is not about earning salvation but responding to His goodness. The more we treasure His Word, the more our lives reflect His good and pleasing will.
3. Pull the Weeds: Expose Sin to Light
To imitate God’s goodness (Eph. 5:1), we must bring sin into the light. The flesh craves comfort, ease, and hiddenness, but those who live by the flesh cannot please God (Rom. 8:8). Instead, we confess our sins (James 5:16), renounce evil (Is. 1:16–17), and walk in the Spirit, trusting Him with our fears and temptations.
Cultivating community—praying for one another (1 Tim. 2:1–4), encouraging one another (1 Thess. 5:16), and helping one another persevere—is another way we can help pull the weeds of sin in us. Friends of like heart, banded together, can help us in the fight to reflect God’s goodness in a dark world.
4. Tend the Garden: Persevere in Goodness
Goodness grows through faithful stewardship of God’s grace (1 Pet. 4:7–19). Like our Creator, we reflect His goodness when we bring order and blessing through our work (Gen. 1:26–28; Col. 3:17).
When evil presses in, we lament honestly but trust His promise to work all things for good (Rom. 8:28). As His law corrects and restores us (Deut. 6:24), His gospel fuels our proclamation (Matt. 5:13–16), and His church joins together to overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21), we taste and see that the Lord is good, and we bear fruit that glorifies Christ forever (Ps. 92:1–2).
Persevering in Goodness
Doing good can sometimes feel like an uphill battle. Our flesh resists it. The world despises it. And the enemy fights against it.
For that reason, Paul reminds us: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:9–10).
When we feel weary, let us look to God for your reward (Matt. 25:31–46). Like Christ, this helps us to persevere with joy as we look beyond what we face every day to what awaits us in the future. He helps us, one day, one moment at a time, empowering us through His Spirit to bear this fruit of goodness.
