What Does Goodness Look Like?

What Does Goodness Look Like?

Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you.”

Exodus 33:18-19

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.

Psalm 23:6

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you.

You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

Psalm 31:19

“That’s good!” we say, talking about our favorite dinner or a new movie or a law that is passed or an experience we have. We see ourselves as judges who determine what is good and what is not. We label things as good or bad based on a standard inside ourselves, one that is often shaped more by personal preferences or the culture around us than anything solid and definitive.

But God has shown us exactly what goodness is. God himself is the standard and the definition of goodness. Moses asked to see God, but God gave him only a glimpse. And what was the essence of what Moses saw? God’s goodness. We can’t see God without seeing his goodness. And if we don’t see his goodness, we haven’t seen God.

Sometimes our circumstances seem like anything but evidence of God’s goodness. But that’s because we tend to define God by what we have deemed good. We have to turn that around. We have to learn to define goodness by who God is and what he does. God is completely, abundantly, perfectly, and forever good. God himself is the standard by which we should compare anything we want to label as good.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What are some things God says are good? What are some things he says are bad?

What sometimes causes us to question God’s goodness?

What difference does it make if God himself becomes our standard for what is good?