Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: Today’s fruit of the spirit is usually translated “goodness,” because the Greek word comes from the stem meaning “good.” But although this is an obvious translation, it is not very accurate. Certainly “goodness” must be a fruit of the spirit, something that grows and increases in us as we live in the Spirit more fully; however, it simply isn’t the best translation of what Paul meant here. “Generosity” would be closer — and more specific — than “goodness,” but it is not terribly accurate either. The closest approximation to what a Greek reader would have understood, here, is “a positive moral quality characterized especially by the interest in the welfare of others.” So, what differentiates this fruit of the spirit from others is that it emphasizes a person’s decreasing concentration on his own welfare, and his increasing concentration of the welfare of others. We are obsessed with our own welfare. By nature, it is 100%. We naturally act almost absolutely for our own benefit. Even a mother sacrificing her life for a child might be seen as genetic self-preservation. The very root of hypocrisy is to use the appearance of unselfishness for the purpose of bolstering our own reputation, gaining political power over a group, etc. One of the most salient differences between Christ and the Jewish authorities (Pharisees, Sadducees, scribes, etc.) — and really, the difference between Christianity and the Judaism of the day — is that Christ taught the importance of motive, as opposed to the Hebrews’ focus on outward conduct. The Sermon on the Mount is full of examples; one could say that the primary theme of Matthew 5-7 is that outward conformance with moral laws is insufficient for salvation. [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And [Jesus] said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:26-28) So this is what Paul is echoing in Galatians 5: Christ’s commandment that we love our neighbor as ourselves. Specific corollaries of the virtue have ingrained themselves in our society. Some non-Christians certainly give enormous amounts of time and money to the good of others. But Christ is more concerned about the change in our individual hearts than in public charity. It is not so much the physical welfare of the recipient of charity that Christianity treats, as the spiritual welfare of the giver. And we see, in this difference, the chasm between Communism — which is aggressively atheistic but claims the good of the poor as its primary virtue — and Christianity. In practical terms, if you look at any atheistic socialist government, the dynamic increasingly becomes more one of the poor demanding more money for themselves. The unselfishness of heart, which is Paul’s aim in today’s passage, tends to shrink. One would be hard-pressed to find a nation of more utterly self-interested people than the former U.S.S.R. Let us all conform our hearts to Paul’s message. Christ suffered torture and death for other people; and not necessarily what we would call good people! He had no self-interest in His terrible and painful ordeal. It was love, and specifically an attitude of complete unselfishness, that He demonstrated. Not only was this a sacrifice necessary for our salvation; it was also a demonstration, a model for how our own hearts should be reformed by faith, in spirit.