Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness, Faithfulness, & Gentleness

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23

Goodness
Goodness signifies moral excellence and integrity in character and actions. Its about consistently choosing what is right, honorable and pleasing to God. This fruit of the Spirit pushes us to live positively and make decisions that reflect God’s righteousness. Goodness involves standing for truth and helping others without selfish motives. It’s an active commitment to doing good, showing compassion and generosity in ways that bring light and hope to those around us.

We can demonstrate goodness by supporting our community, volunteering or mentoring someone in need. Goodness isn’t just about what we avoid, its about what we do to bring positive change.

Faithfulness
Faithfulness is steadfast commitment to God and others. It means being consistent, reliable, and true to your word. A faithful person is not perfect, but is grounded in their beliefs.

How can we demonstrate faithfulness to others? First, we can keep our promises – big and small. We can be reliable and follow through on our commitments.

How do we remain faithful to God? We all know the answer – prayer, worship and studying His word, even (especially) when life is tough. Faithfulness to God deepens our spiritual growth and helps us to remain steadfast and faithful in all areas of our lives.

Gentleness
Gentleness is a calm and humble approach that shows care and consideration for others. Gentleness enables us to respond with God’s grace when we are tempted to act harshly or defensively. A gentle person is firm in the truth, speaking and acting with kindness. Gentleness reflects Christ’s character and allows others to experience love and understanding through our words and actions.

When I was in high school our church youth choir travelled by bus throughout parts of California and Oregon “on tour”. Each day we would travel to a different town and perform in a local church. One afternoon we stopped in a small Oregon town, and while the busses were being washed a refueled, we were free to roam around on Main Street. Unfortunately, three of the girls in our group took the opportunity to shoplift from the drugstore. The owner caught them and, rather than involving the police, he delivered them our choir director, who happened to be one of our pastors. When we reached our destination for the night, the girls’ parents were phoned and plans were put in place for them to fly home immediately. This incident, of course, was all we were talking about. That is, until our pastor’s wife, Joan, got us all together for a little chat. She expressed sadness, but not anger or accusations, about what had happened and how our group was reacting to it, and reminded us that God required our grace and understanding. Then she gently told us that she didn’t want to hear any more talk about it for the rest of the week and, as I recall, there wasn’t any! Joan’s gentle approach to a delicate situation was a lesson in God’s love and grace for a group of teenagers that day.

Sue Wallace