Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness is just "Godness." it is being like God. And godlike goodness has special reference to the active benevolence of God. The apostle Paul gave us the difference between goodness and righteousness in Romans 5:7: Scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. The righteous man is the man of stiff, inflexible uprightness, but he may be as hard as a granite mountainside. The good man is that mountainside covered with velvet moss and flowers and flowing with cascades and springs. Goodness respects "whatsoever things are lovely." It is kindness, affection, benevolence, sympathy, rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep. Lord, fill us with Thyself, and let us be God-persons and good persons and so represent Thy goodness. There are lonely hearts to cherish, While the days are going by; There are weary souls who perish, While the days are going by.
