Teach How to Be Good

Older women, teach the younger women to be good (Titus 2:5). For me, as I thought through the list of seven things older women are to teach younger women, this word good seemed so common, so nondescript. I didn’t really know what exactly we were to teach. But a deeper study has opened up a treasure trove of specific and practical applications for us as women to inculcate (“to cause to become filled or saturated with a certain quality or principle” Merriam-Webster) into our lives. So let’s dig in.

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he must do to ensure that he would have eternal life, the man began his question by calling Jesus “Good Teacher.” Jesus’ initial response did not address the man’s question. Instead, He questioned the young man why he would call Him good; for, Jesus stated, there is no one good except God. With this statement, Jesus was not saying the man was wrong to call Him that and that He Himself was not good. Rather, Jesus was challenging the man to recognize who He really is. The fact that Jesus is inherently and completely good proves who He is: He is God. Only God is good. And we must approach Him on those terms.

Do you remember the child’s mealtime prayer: “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food”? Simple. Yet profound. God is good. Perhaps I should write it like this: God. Is. Good. To get the full impact, each word needs to be meditated on. Goodness is God’s essential character; it’s who He is. All goodness springs forth from Him, and there is no goodness apart from Him.

Goodness is all around us, embedded in the creation spoken into being by a good God. We see it in the beauty of nature: ocean waves sending up their spray as they crash against the rocks; the varied hues of purple, gold, red, and orange of sunrises and sunsets that grace our mornings and evenings, catching our breath with awe and wonder; the turning of the seasons in all their varied colors and delights; waterfalls, rushing mountain streams, reflective lakes, and the peace of a languid river flowing through flatlands; rugged mountains, rolling hills, wide valleys; the glitter of stars, the soft glow of the moon, radiant sunlight waking the world into all its vibrant colors and shades…and the list could go on and on. The goodness of God’s creative genius fills our senses daily and gives us a faithful rhythm of life.

There is also the goodness of God’s provision that He gives generously and liberally, without any obligations or requirements on our part. As Matthew says, God “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt. 5:45, NKJV). I well remember cutting open a green pepper one day as I prepared dinner for my family and how it led me to worship the God of goodness. I marveled at the abundant goodness of God in providing within just one pepper a multitude of seeds that could each become its own plant that would each produce many more peppers, which in turn would each have an abundance of seeds in them. And so it is for all the plants God has given us! The goodness of God’s provision is truly astounding.

Then there is the goodness God has given specifically to mankind. We have been given the goodness of reason and rational thought, of learning and developing skills and talents, of understanding and wisdom. We have the ability to create and produce and explore and invent. Think of all the goodness we receive from those who write music and those who become skillful at playing an instrument. Consider the beauty of the human voice, both to sing and to talk. We have been given the gift of words, communication, and relationships. Think of all the blessings we have received from the genius of others, so many they could not even be enumerated. Most of them we take for granted, like the genius of the alphabet to read and write and share ideas. So many daily uses of common tools and inventions make our lives easier and more productive.

All of us, whether rich or poor, have been given so much. Our lives abound with goodness. Yet we often complain. We seldom reflect or take the time to wonder and give thanks to the God “from whom all blessings flow.” God is good. Perhaps this is the first lesson older women are to teach younger women. We need to be reminded. In the busyness of life and particularly in the many, and often confusing, decisions of young adulthood, and in the never-a-minute-to-myself overwhelm of motherhood, we women need to be encouraged to take time to consider the goodness of God, to slow down long enough to give thanks, and to let the goodness of God rejuvenate our souls.

I remember sitting by the bedside of an older woman who suffered from lung problems. She knew she didn’t have long to live. She told me that now as she got older, a single leaf fluttering in the wind held as much beauty and wonder for her as a whole forest of trees. I’ve thought of that often. It’s so true. The wonder of God’s goodness is all around us. As James reminds us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jam. 1:17, NKJV). Are you noticing? What are the ways you are seeing and experiencing the goodness of God? Share it below so all of us can lift our hearts and minds in praise to God for His goodness. And have you acknowledged Jesus Christ as the Source and Creator of all that goodness?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus. https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inculcate

The Holy Bible: New King James Version. Nashville, Holman Bible Publishers, 1984.