Living Out God's GoodnessSample

Goodness in Practice!

To improve a skill or gain a new skill, you seek training or education that includes instruction and diligent practice. Over time, you become more like your trainers or teachers by observing from them. To learn to become a skilled dancer, for example, you take lessons from an instructor and then practice consistently. And, if your goal is to receive higher math grades, you regularly practice on homework and spend time with a tutor.Likewise, you must purposefully practice goodness to live the Godly lifestyle that God desires for you. The Holy Spirit is the One who empowers you to choose goodness even when you feel too imperfect to be like God. When faced with sin, you can ask the Holy Spirit at that very moment to help you choose God’s way. The Bible says that God always provides “a way of escape” where we can choose God’s way over sin. 

You may have heard of these expressions: “If it walks like a duck, swims like a duck. and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck;” “like father, like son;” and “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” These phrases imply that often we become like those persons with whom we spend our time.

Ephesians 5:1-2 states, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

When you spend time with God, you become more and more like Him. To become more like God, you must learn from Him. Take a look at Ephesians 4:22-24: “You were taught [by God], with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” What is He wanting YOU to learn to do?

What actions can you practice to help you walk, talk, and live more like God?