Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

Amos 5:14-15

When we think about goodness, our focus first must be on God who is certainly good. As Jesus told the rich young ruler, ““Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18).

Ultimately this is true. Only God is truly good but Scripture also gives us a look at what kind of person may be considered good. In the book of Acts, Barnabas is first introduced as the nickname of a man named Joseph. Why did they call him Barnabas? Acts 4: 36 says that Barnabas means “son of encouragement.” And later in Acts 11:24, Barnabas is described as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”

In the passage above we read that goodness is something to be pursued as a way to honor God. A good man hates evil and loves what is good and then Amos says that it is good to “establish justice in the gate” so that goodness acts on behalf of the good for others. Goodness is seen as a reflection of our faith.

As a fruit of the Spirit goodness is observed by others. Finally, goodness is the final evaluation we all want to hear at the end of our days on earth –

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

Matthew 5:21

How many of us want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant?”