The LORD is kind and merciful, patient, and full of love.
The term “goodness of God” is one of God’s attributes among others. His goodness is evident in His kindness, love, forgiveness, and goodwill toward men. The goodness of God is shown in His character; this is who He is. It is in His nature to bestow blessedness upon humanity, and He takes pride in the happiness of His people. His goodness is demonstrated through His actions upon us.
First and foremost, the goodness of God is his very essence. His goodness is pronounced everywhere in the Bible, the first book of the Bible which is about creation talks of his nature. Genesis 1 (verses 4, 10, 18, 30) portrays that everything God created was good including mankind. Human beings were created in his image; this means that not only man’s physical attributes depict God, but also in what we do and our character. Everything good in us comes from God. His good works are complete in us, for we are his workmanship; henceforth, through his goodness to us, we can do what is good.
The Lord is good to all, says our verse of the day: “The LORD is kind and merciful, patient, and full of love. The LORD is good to everyone. He shows His mercy to everything He made.” God is full of unmerited favor; this assures us that even if we are faced with difficult circumstances, we trust in Him to show us His kindness. The Bible tells us even the difficulties we face are meant for our good. He takes what seems to harm us and turns it for our good. Consequently, we cannot separate what is good from Him.
The Lord has given us so much more than we deserve. His goodness draws us to Him, and for this reason He sacrificed his only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins so that through Him we will all be saved. His goodness is the core of our Christianity – so that in His goodness we may repent and be saved through Jesus Christ. He decided to save all humanity even though we had sinned! And He continues to show us His kindness by forgiving our sins and pulling us back to Himself so that in Him we find a sanctuary. We live each day in confidence knowing that God takes care of us.
In conclusion, we see the goodness of God through His healing, peace, joy, protection, strength, wisdom, and many other blessings He gives to us.
By Onismo Goronga, Bible League International partner, Zimbabwe
