Goodness: Moral Excellence

"And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another." -Romans 15:14

"...For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth)..." -Ephesians 5:8-9

Goodness is one of those things that we must apply to every aspect of our lives. Goodness is an integral part of most of the other fruits that we have looked at and are going to look at.

Let's take a look at goodness from the perspective of "moral excellence." Make decisions based on your morals, what you believe and know to be right, and sticking to those decisions. Again, excellence is attained with much practice, with time... but it is crucial that we build up our moral standards to be above reproach. This is not a holier-than-thou mentality, but quite simply it is a striving after the heartbeat of God.

"But," you might ask, "What about those things that we aren't sure about whether or not they are okay for us to do?"
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." -2 Timothy 3:16-17
So that we may be equipped for every good work... also look above that where he says that the Scripture is useful for training in righteousness. If we truly desire God then we will desire His righteousness, and from this verse we see that Scripture is our guide for right living. We are told that, through Scripture, we will become adequately trained for every good work! Isn't that amazing? When you go to college they give you a list of books you will need, plus other resources, in order to study and learn about a specific field of work. We have been given one Book, the holy and inspired Word of God, and it is adequate for all training in righteousness for all people.

Back to the issue of moral excellence... through reading the Scriptures we are made aware of the things which we must not tolerate in our lives, and also of the things which we must integrate into our lives. "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth." -Colossians 3:5-8

Moral excellence may also mean reviving an unconscious conscience... you know... that little voice that used to tell you that what you were doing was wrong, but you have silenced it over the years. We have become calloused to the Holy Spirit's calling us to repentance, and instead we ignore what we know is right. This must stop, now! Where has the morality of the church gone?
Friends, we are in a serious decline, as a nation, as far as our morality goes... Who is going to show the world what goodness looks like, if the church fails to do so?

The ones who claim the name of Christ need to arise from their sleepy stupor and once again exemplify morality in our society. We live in a world of tolerance and taboo... but as Christians we are called to a black and white, night and day contrast of good and evil. We are not supposed to linger near the line where sin will tempt us from the other side. No, run from the temptations. Scripture says to "resist the devil and he will flee from you..." -James 4:7b

All of that to ask this simple question... Where is your morality? By what standard do you measure yourself? And do you know that God measures with the staff of holiness? Is your standard equal to or above the holiness of God? We must press on and not be found guilty of lingering over sin and temptations... we must hold to a higher standard!

Friends, this is the point of goodness... don't get caught up in mediocrity. Stand for the excellence of God, and model His character! There is nothing in this world that is too great to give up for the sake of moral excellence... goodness that glorifies God. Please consider these things... and then examine your life for areas in which you must perfect goodness, in order to be more like Christ. I too will be examining myself, and I am somewhat afraid of what I might be called to give up. But for me... "to live is Christ and to die is gain." Dying to the things of this world in order to live in Christ, it's worth it!

Grace and Peace!


Questions or Comments? E-mail me at afflquestions@yahoo.com .