NOTE: Due to scheduling issues, this week’s post is a repeat from several years ago.
When you hear this phrase, “He loves what is good” is there a name or a face that comes to mind? Notice that I didn’t say, “He DOES what is good.” These are very different characteristics. We can do good without wanting to. A child may be obedient to avoid the consequences, but he does not love what is good. My dad would define this child by saying, “He may be sitting down on the outside, but he is standing up on the inside!”
On the other hand, a man who loves what is good always does what is good. His thoughts, words, and actions are controlled by his love of goodness. This is a quality of godliness God challenges us to pursue.
To love what is good means to desire to pursue good instead of evil. This sounds obvious but it is not always easy. The Apostle Paul revealed his own struggle in Romans 7:19, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” This is a constant battle in our own spirits because of the sin nature that is part of our existence.
But God does not leave us to learn to love what is good on our own. He recognizes this is not only a difficult task, it is impossible. Our default is often selfishness or pride. In his mercy, God gives us a process by which we allow the Holy Spirit of God to create in us a character that loves what is good. We find it in Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Having a character that loves what is good, pleasing, and perfect before God begins with an act of submission. Paul begs us to exercise this act of submission, not as a means of avoiding consequences, but as a response to the mercy of God. Mercy is the choice of God to not give us what we deserve – the wages of sin is death – but to provide for us, through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, the opportunity to enjoy the goodness he provides.
The practical first step of this submission is to determine that God is smarter than I am and better equipped to determine what is best in my life. This process involves renewing my mind; laying my self-reliance and pride on the altar of God and allowing him to kill off the parts that lead me toward evil and renew them with the truth of loving what is good.
Scripture is clear that this is a living sacrifice. I don’t give up my free will or my ability to make life choices. I simply allow God to have a controlling role in the process. Above, we discussed that the pursuit of loving what is good is not for the purpose of avoiding the consequences of doing evil. However, God, in his grace, throws in this benefit as a bonus. Learning to love God and the truth of his word more than we love our own way will cause us to want to do good. This decision will always result in freedom from the pain and stress that comes from those acts of evil in our lives.