Goodness. The original word is noted by the Lexicon to only be used in the Bible and ecclesiastical writings. The word is commonly thought to mean upright, however, the Lexicon leaves room for the word to be interpreted as beneficent, which means to perform acts of kindness and charity, and the King James Version actually translates this word as kindness. It is an uprightness of the life and not just in character. In that sense, it is very similar to kindness. The goodness of the Lord is spoken of often in the Old Testament, such as in Exodus 18:9 and Psalm 31:19. Goodness is in the character of the Lord, and by allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit, we adopt the character of the Lord in our own lives.
Goodness is differentiated from kindness in the sense that kindness refers to the way in which we treat people, whereas goodness speaks to what we do for other people. It is one thing for Jesus to be kind to us and give us His mercy. It is something else for Jesus to give His life on the cross for our sins out of the goodness of His heart. One is the reason for the mercy and the other is the way in which mercy is expressed.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines beneficent to include “resulting in good.” Goodness, then, is the behavior toward others that results in good. It is born out of kindness and rooted in love, the love that seeks the best for others. William Barclay in the Daily Bible Study on Galatians says that Jesus showed goodness when He cleansed the temple and drove out those who made it into a bazaar and showed kindness to the sinning woman who anointed His feet.
Kindness is what makes up the core of our heart, and goodness is the expression of the heart, even if the expression includes firm rebuke of wrongdoing. The Judds sang a song titled Daddy’s Hands, and in the chorus are these words, “Daddy’s hands were soft and kind when I was crying, daddy’s hands were hard as steel when I’d done wrong…” The hands were both kind and good at the same time, kindness in comfort and goodness in discipline.
It is not always our job to rebuke or discipline those around us. It is our job, however, to see to it that our behavior and actions result in good. This can only be accomplished through the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
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