Shining for God: Reflecting His Goodness Through Our Actions
Text:Matthew 5:16
Reference: John 1:2, John 3:1-8, Acts 11:19-26, Acts 11:13-18
There are two most important things here:
- Men are to see our good deeds.
In Greek, there are two words for “good.”
There is the word agathos, which simply defines a thing as good in quality.
There is also kalos, which means that the thing is not only good, but also winsome, beautiful, and attractive.
The word used here is kalos.
The good deeds of the Christian must not only be good but also attractive.
There must be a certain winsomeness in Christian goodness.
The tragedy of so much so-called goodness is that in it, there is an element of hardness, coldness, and austerity.
There is goodness that attracts and goodness that repels.
There is a charm in true Christian goodness that makes it a lovely thing.
It was the goodness of the light of His apostles in Acts 11:13, 20 that the Jews and Gentiles saw, which made them accept Jesus.
The church in Acts of the Apostles grew because the apostles represented what they preached.
The goodness of the gospel couldn’t be separated from their attitude. That is why they were labeled Christlike.
It is further to be noted that our good deeds ought to draw attention not to ourselves, but to God.
In Matthew 4:16 and Matthew 13:43, this saying of Jesus is a total prohibition of what someone has called “theatrical goodness.”
Any goodness any church, person, or human being does consciously to draw attention to itself is not Christian goodness.
That is fleshly goodness, and God and Jesus are not glorified in it. Rather, Satan is glorified.
- The Christian never thinks of what he has done but of what God has enabled him to do.
He never seeks to draw the eyes of men to himself, but always to direct them to God.
So long as men are thinking of the praise, thanks, and prestige they will get for what they have done, they have not truly begun the Christian way.
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