Repaying good for evil brings about beneficial change. Recently my daughter who teaches elementary school helped two students reconcile. The students hadn’t been getting along, so my daughter assigned them to think of three positive things about the other person. In a few days my daughter and another teacher met with the students to help them change how they had been acting. As the students shared what was good about the other person it help them lay a foundation for relating to each other with kindness and respect. Restorative justice only works if all parties are willing to admit any wrongdoing and make changes to move forward in a positive way. Fortunately these two students were. This note builds on my note from last week were I talked about the beauty that you can experience if you are open to God changing your mind and heart. Hopefully you are open to being changed by God’s goodness. New life with God can start today and be enjoyed every day if you admit any wrongdoing and let him forgive and restore you.
God’s Goodness Brings Everlasting Benefit
The Bible teaches that you should treat others the way you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). Also that it is a blessing to give more than to receive (Acts 20:35). My daughter’s students experienced the benefits of this wisdom. Most likely you have also. In the Bible, God instructs you to prayerfully rely on him to put others before yourself, to help the needy, to serve rather than be served, to live at peace with everyone as much as it depends on you, to love your enemies, to pray for those who persecute you, and to forgive as God forgives you. Unfortunately this lifestyle is counter-cultural in our fallen world of broken people. Yet, it is achievable if you let God work through you. As wise and benevolent king of the universe, God does not ask you to do anything that he has not already done.
God is good and he treats others with goodness (Luke 18:19; 1 John 1:5; Psalm 100:5, 119:68). When Jesus, God the Son, became a man and lived among people to show them the ultimate way of life, whoever encountered him was changed by his goodness. Jesus loves you, understands you, and empathizes with you. Therefore, he has come to fulfill your deepest need which is to be saved from your wrongdoing and be reconciled with God (Colossians 1:15-23). Many rejected Jesus because of doubt, self righteousness, cares of the world, comfort, busyness, or a love for money, possessions, or power. But those who received him were changed for the better. The Bible describes numerous examples of people changed by God’s goodness expressed through Jesus. Eye-witness accounts are found in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The blind, the diseased, the lame, the demon-possessed were healed. Even sick people who died were brought back to life. The emotionally disturbed, the traumatized, the marginalized, and the forgotten were sought out, loved, and restored. God’s saving work in Jesus is still changing people today. It’s God’s riches of kindness, mercy, and patience that are intended to lead you to repentance (Romans 2:4). Let the goodness of God change your mind, your heart, and your very life for your best as only he can. In addition, as you trust and obey Jesus he will guide and empower you to pass his goodness on to others so they can experience abundant, everlasting life with God also.
Take Responsibility and Receive Forgiveness
The catalyst to being fully changed by God’s goodness is admitting you when you do wrong and trusting Jesus to save you, for he is the only one who can (Romans 3:23; John 3:16-21, 14:6). We see this in the life of Peter, a first century Jewish fisherman. In a touching encounter with Jesus, he had worked all the previous night fishing, but caught nothing. Jesus met him at his point of need, but then went further. He invited Peter to a fuller life as he does with everyone even today. He told Peter to go out once more to catch fish. Tired and frustrated, Peter was reluctant. He didn’t see the point, he had already tried everything and it didn’t matter. He still had no fish to feed his family or to sell. Nonetheless he did so, since Jesus asked him. Immediately upon lowering his nets, he miraculously caught so many fish that the nets began to break and he had to call another boat to help. Both boats were so full of fish that they began to sink. Humbled and afraid, Peter fell at Jesus’ knees and begged him to go away, for Peter knew he was sinful and unworthy to be in Jesus’ presence. But Jesus lovingly reassured him not to be afraid. Then he called Peter to change the world. He said follow me and I will send you to fish for people. Peter left everything and followed Jesus (Luke 5:1-11). That day on the lake Peter began a new life with God where he would change and experience even greater goodness, because he admitted he was a sinner and he sought salvation by trusting and obeying Jesus, the savior of the world.
Your beliefs, values, and actions have consequences for you and others. When you do wrong it causes harm to you and others. It distorts your ability to see clearly, to discern the truth, and to treat others with love and respect. If that was not tragic enough, this wrong can also influence others to do wrong which creates compounding devastation. Adam and Eve used to enjoy the incredible blessings of intimacy with God in the garden of Eden. But when they choose to gratify themselves over obeying God it had tragic long term effects on them and the human race. They lost their innocence; they died spiritually; they severed their fellowship with God; they degraded the relationship between each other; they became aware of evil; they brought pain, destruction, and suffering to all of creation; they were banned from the wondrous garden; and they abdicated their authority over the earth to Satan (Genesis 1-3). Is there anything keeping you from the unsurpassed goodness you could be having with God?
If you have not come to trust and obey Jesus or if you have strayed from following him to pursue your own path, you can put an end to that downward spiral now. Admit your wrongs and brokenness to God. Hate sin and the harm, sadness, and death it brings. For without holiness no one will see God (Hebrews 12:14). You and I aren’t holy, so our only hope is to trust in the perfect holiness of Jesus who became sin for us so that we might become rightly related to God (2 Corinthians 5:21). With a remorseful heart may we cry out to be forgiven and for Jesus’ righteousness to become ours by faith (Romans 3:21-26). David in the Bible came before God in this way. He was king of Israel, but in his pride and lust he committed adultery and murder. Fortunately, when he was confronted he took ownership of his wretchedness and pleaded to God for mercy and restoration.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place…Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (Psalm 51:1-6, 8-17).
Even though David sinned and even though you and I sin, God promises to forgive all who confess their sin. Those who trust him to save them, he cleanses from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Be Motivated by Love
As you trust and obey Jesus, you experience his goodness every day. One reassuring truth is that you are not alone on this new faith journey. You don’t have to strive in your own strength to do what’s right. Instead you can rely on God’s spirit whom he gives to believers to guide, comfort, teach, and empower them. Following Jesus isn’t about learning new rules. Rather it is about learning to love him in dear relationship and letting him change you to become more like himself and to do what he does. Don’t settle for any less then the bountiful joy God has for you as his son or daughter.
Above I wrote about how your beliefs, values, and actions have consequences and when you do wrong it harms you and others. Well, the corollary is also true. When you do right through loving faith in Jesus it brings life to you and others because it opens a divine gateway for God’s love and transforming salvation power to flow. This has a multiplication effect for goodness in the lives of many, beyond what we presently see. Love is more than a feeling, Also love is more than just being loved. To revel in love’s fullness requires you to respond with commitment, trust, respect, and sacrifice. God has graciously demonstrated all of these toward you through Jesus (Romans 5:8). I encourage you to grow in the rich, unsurpassed goodness of that love by responding. Deny yourself to love him back and to share his love with others.
Conclusion
Spend time each day discovering and celebrating how great God is. Be transformed by his goodness. Then by his grace and power follow Jesus’ example to do what’s right, good, and loving. By sharing his goodness with others, hopefully they too will trust him to change them for the best.
Note: You might enjoy a couple of impactful video resources which highlight the goodness of Jesus and the change he brings to all who trust him. One resource is He Gets Us. The other is The Chosen.