In the series finale, our characters find themselves in the classroom where it all started. All of the main characters had come to see their teacher, principal, college professor, and lifelong mentor Mr. Feeny one more time before they all moved away. His last piece of advice to them was this: “Believe in yourselves. Dream. Try. Do good.” Since he had always corrected their grammar over the years, Topanga (my childhood crush and my first choice for my daughter’s name) decided to call him out and ask if he really meant for them to “do well.” And he said, “No, I mean do good.”
As we dive into the fourth installment of our fruit of the Spirit study, we arrive at the one with the most obvious definition. Goodness – being good. Pretty simple, huh?
In this case, I actually feel like the definition is sufficient. Being good. Making sure your actions are good, your words are good, and even your thoughts are good.
However, I think it is our application of good that is problem. While goodness means being productive, making things better, and seeking to actively glorify God, that often translate to us avoiding bad habits, keeping things from falling apart, and staying away from sin. It’s like we constantly find ourselves asking the wrong question and trying to avoid evil instead of doing good.
Is it good to avoid bad habits and stay away from sin? Of course it is, as opposed to doing evil things. But when we are talking about producing holy fruit, goodness means so much more.
Goodness is possibly the most inherently fruitful trait on the list. If you do good things, you will see results. If you focus on good things in your thought life, it will be much easier to defeat evil as it arises. If you are good to people, it will be obvious that you are different because this world is not innately good.
God is good. So if you want people to see God in you, then you must be good. I’m not talking about being “not bad.” I’m talking about pure, genuine, fruitful goodness.
If we “do good” as Mr. Feeny instructed, we will make the world a better place. In addition to being the voice of K.I.T.T in Knight Rider, Feeny is a very wise man. Let’s follow his advice.