Good morning, brothers and sisters. We are in Galatians 5, verses 22-24 again this morning. Galatians 5, verses 22-24. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control against such there is no law. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Amen. This is God's word. So we come today to the sixth item in Paul's list as we go through the fruit of the spirit. And that is goodness. We looked at kindness last week and here we're at goodness this morning. And there's definitely some overlap between kindness and goodness. There's a lot of similarities between some of these things, but we want to think about what is goodness specifically? What does it mean to be filled with goodness? And what does it mean to show goodness to others? So I'm going to give you a definition of goodness. Goodness is a positive moral quality characterized, especially by interest in the welfare of others. So goodness is a positive moral quality characterized, especially by interest in the welfare of others. Now this word is used in the new Testament only four times in total. So we only have a couple of references to it, but I think one of the most instructive references for us this morning is in Romans 15. So look over at Romans 15 verse 14, Romans 15 verse 14. And here we read what Paul says to the Roman Christians. He says, and I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye are also, also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able to admonish one another. So Paul says, I am convinced that you Christians in Rome are filled with goodness. Now, from what we know of history, Paul had not met the Romans. He had not been to this church. He did not know these people personally. So how is it that he can say, I am convinced that you are filled with goodness? How does he know that? Wouldn't one have to visit and spend some time with this particular body to see whether there really was goodness amongst these people? Well, his confidence does not lie in his personal knowledge of the Roman Christians. His confidence lies in the work of the Holy Spirit that he knew was at work there in Rome. And so that's why he is confident. And therefore this, this, we find much encouragement for us in that Paul would have been confident that we, the Christians in Elizabeth are filled with all goodness, filled with knowledge and able to admonish one another. So this verse is for us. These truths are for us this morning. This is the confidence that he had in the power of the gospel to save and to transform the Roman Christians. And so we also believe in that same power that by the work of the Holy spirit, we are filled with goodness so that we will care for others. So let's think about that. If, if a goodness is applying and seeking the welfare of others, the, uh, the good of others, then I want to ask you the question, is there someone in your life in particular that you are actively seeking to do good to? Is there someone in your life in particular that you're actively seeking to do good to? Hopefully there's a number of those people. Certainly our families is one of, is a group of those people that we must focus on, but others as well. Who are we seeking the welfare of? And I want to give you a couple of different ways in which we seek the welfare of others. We seek the good of others. Four in particular. The first one is discipling others spiritually, discipling others in the truths of God's word. So we can show goodness to others by discipling. Second one would be teaching somebody a skill of some kind, helping others in the work that they have to do for the Lord by teaching them something. The third would be counseling them through some difficulty, helping them to understand how God's word applies to life. So we have discipling, teaching, Counseling. And then the fourth one would be helping others with a material need, helping those that are in need. So if you look at these four things, you see that all of us can contribute to the doing of these things in different ways. All of us have the ability to do these things, to show good, to do good to others. Here's another way to look at goodness. And I think this kind of boils it down real simply. Goodness is being like Jesus to others or helping others to be more like Jesus. Goodness is being like Jesus to others or helping others to be more like Jesus. And that that's a certainly a simple way to, to summarize it, isn't it? So who are we actively pursuing? Who are we actively seeking the good of in these particular four categories? And I think that we should not underestimate the influence that we have upon others in doing these things. Sometimes we hold back from doing these things because we're concerned that we really can't do that much good. We don't feel skilled enough. We don't feel like we're trained enough to do these things, but we know what Romans 15 says. We read it earlier that Paul was convinced that they are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able to admonish one another. Brothers and sisters, by the work of the Holy Spirit, you are filled with goodness and you can exercise that goodness and seeking the good of others. It's okay for us to feel insufficient. We should feel insufficient of our own, right? We don't work apart from God though. And that's, that's the strength that we, we have. The Holy Spirit is the one that actually does the job of actual transformation. Whatever we do is just act as tools in God's hands. to accomplish that work. Each of us brings different gifts to the table when it comes to helping others. So think about that. What is my gift in particular that I can do good to others? Is it giving out of your finances to those in need? Good. Then do that. Is it teaching others the Bible? Good. Then let's do that. Is it mentoring someone in some life or business skill that they need? Then let's do that. Is it using your babysitting or house cleaning skills to help others that are in need? Then let's do that. Whatever God has given you to do and that you can use to show good to others, then exercise that gift. And this is exactly what Romans 12 tells us. If you go back a couple of chapters from Romans 15, Romans 12, verses four through eight, Paul tells us in verse four is for, as we have many members in one body, But all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness." What's the basic point he's getting at? Whatever it is that you have, do it, use it, exercise it. Don't let it just sit there. Use the gifts that God has given you to show good. We don't worry about the differences between our different gifts. Instead, we simply use them in whatever capacity we can. So this is what it means to show good brothers and sisters. We seek the welfare of others. So as we pray, let us ask God for his forgiveness for our neglect of these gifts that we have sometimes neglected and ask that the spirit would fill us with this goodness, that we would seek the good of others. Let's pray. Oh, Father in heaven, we thank you that you have indeed given us things that we may do to show good to others. Father, we remember the goodness and mercy that you have shown us in our Lord Jesus Christ, that you sent him to an unthankful and ungodly people so that we may have a new life. And we thank you that your spirit is indeed at work in this body and we ask that the spirit would work in us to fill us with all goodness. Help us to exercise the gifts that we have that we may seek the good of others and not neglect the opportunities that we have. And now we each take a moment to confess our own sins before the Lord.