Good-Hearted People

For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. I Samuel 16:7 (KJV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 (KJV) emphasis mine

For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Psalm 86:5 (KJV) emphasis mine

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Mark 10:18 (KJV)

These verses show us that goodness comes from God. People like to say things like, people are all good at heart, but that is not true unless a person is born-again. Unsaved man in and of himself is only evil because he has been born into sin and has a sin nature. Unsaved people can do good things, but they are not good at heart. To have a good heart, we must have God, for God alone is good.

God looks at the heart. A good heart brings forth good fruit. We’ve all known people who are good-hearted because the fruit of goodness came out in their conduct and character. We saw it in how they acted and how they treated people.

Goodness is agathosune in the Greek. It can be defined to be and do good, with a zeal for truth and hatred for evil. It is expressed in acts of kindness, etc. A good heart is a regenerated heart.

Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes. Psalm 119:68 (KJV)

Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 106:1 (KJV)

The Bible tells us that God is good and He does good. In God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. This means God is all good and no evil. To be good-hearted, we must get that quality from God, who is the source of all goodness.

It is a good thing, even a God thing, when good-hearted people cross our path.They show love to us, and they are givers and not takers. They give an encouraging word, and a loving touch. Their words are seasoned with kindness and a desire to help. It is through those people that we see who God is and what God is all about.

As we act out the goodness God has placed in our hearts, let it be seeds of God’s goodness sown in the hearts of others. And may God bring them to a saving knowledge of Him so they can be transformed into vessels of His goodness as well. As we’re good to others, whether they are good to us or not, God will draw them to Himself. Don’t let bad people and bad situations steal your good heart. Instead, stay focused on God and let God do His deep work in your heart where His goodness takes over more and more.

Goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and He’ll grow God’s goodness in our hearts so we can show God’s goodness to others daily. God-hearted people are good-hearted people.