What Is Good?
Scripture: Luke 9:23-24
Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
I recently have been reading a book that has challenged me in many different areas in terms of my walk with God. One specific area is in the definition of good. I’ve given much thought and consideration to this in the past few weeks. In this teaching, I will share the ‘new’ perspective that God has given me about what is good.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines good as – being positive or desirable in nature. Most of us would agree with this definition of good. We tend to identify events/things as good if they are positive or desirable and we label them as bad or evil if they cause pain, suffering, and/or heartache.
The Lord has shown me that this definition of good is a very selfish and self-centered definition. That seems blunt and perhaps a bit harsh, but it is the reality. You see when we identify something as good, we can easily overlook the sacrifice that has been made for the good to have occurred. In a simple example, let’s consider the receiving of a gift. I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t like to receive a gift. That’s an event that we would consider good. But, the giver has made a sacrifice of time and money to give you the gift. When we are the receiver it is good.
The gift is a simplistic example, but it illustrates the point well enough. Now let’s give consideration to the life of Jesus. For us, the life and death of Jesus was a good thing. Because of it, we now have access to eternal life and abundantly at that. But what about the perspective of God watching His only son hang on that cross and be brutally beaten. What about the pain and agony for Jesus? He suffered incredible physical duress, but the emotional pain and torment, I believe, were just as devastating. And, what about Mary? The bottom line is, she was the mother of Jesus. It doesn’t matter that He was the savior of the world, she was still His mother. I cannot begin to imagine and pain and suffering that this woman endured in the life of Jesus. Yes, the life and death of Jesus was good for us, but it didn’t come without a sacrifice from many others.
Now let’s bring the goodness a little closer to home. As Christians we are in no way exempt from pain, suffering, and attacks from the enemy. We have been taught to fight the good fight of faith and stand firm. And, this is what we should do. But we’ve also considered these things to be bad or evil because they are painful for us. We often cry out to God wondering where He is, why He isn’t doing anything, and asking why this is happening to us. Sometimes our response is – What did I do to deserve this?
The Lord has challenged me to consider these painful events from a bigger picture. In my mind I can see the saved standing on one side of a chasm and the lost or unsaved on the other. The only way the saved can reach the lost is to have victory over the areas that the lost are struggling with. When we have walked in their shoes and have had victory, then we have hope to offer them. We have to meet them where they are at. The bridge that allows us to cross is living out the same painful circumstances that they are dealing with.
Likewise, God knew that it wouldn’t be enough for us if He offered salvation from the heavenly realms. We needed a savior to meet us where we were at, to come down and live our life. If Jesus hadn’t walked the earth, He most likely would not have credibility with us. Let’s face it, we are more apt to listen to someone who has dealt with what we’re dealing with.
Jesus left the beauty and perfection of heaven to be born in a barn and to deal with the filth and stench of our sin and shortcomings. From His perspective, I’m not sure it was a ‘good’ event. But, the end result was life changing for us.
This new perspective is really about dying to our own selfish ideals. The scripture above says we must deny ourselves and take up our cross (pain and heartache) and follow Jesus. The essence of this scripture is about changing how we define events that are good.
The next time you’re in the heat of the battle, try to consider the good that will come. I’m not saying that your whole perspective will change and the pain/suffering will be taken away. But perhaps we can find hope in knowing that we can help and minister to others struggling in the same area. The sacrifice that you make will be good for them. You are building a bridge to cross the chasm. And when you reach a lost soul and bring them back across that bridge with you, here’s what happens in heaven – ‘In the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ Luke 15:10. The angels in heaven are in celebration when, through your victory over the struggle, you cross the chasm to the lost and bring that individual back with you into salvation and a life with Christ. And that, my friend, is way beyond good!!
Be Blessed!
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