Ever since 9/11 Americans have increased their humanitarian effort towards others. More, and more people are becoming active to doing good deeds to others. Doing good deeds is at the high end of our humanity we are created to be good and to treat each other good. Even though, through out our time we have seen many evil people doing pretty evil things, there are many who enjoy being good. In fact, there are many who associate being good as a way for going to heaven. In fact, God even expects us to be good. Most if not all religions of the worlds expect some sort of good to come out from them members. There are things in life that bring the goodness out of everyone, or at least out of most of us. For example, paying for someone’s lunch for no reason, helping an elderly cross the street or sending some positive words via social network will cause to bring out someone’s goodness shine through.
Matthew 19:16-17
16 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
Goodness seems to be attributed to going to heaven; if you are good then God will not reject you when you die, is what many people today believe. In fact, God calls us to be good to one another and to go an extra mile (Mt. 5:40-42) for someone else, but can we really say that we are good? To be good, according to the dictionary is to be moral excellent. It is a condition that includes the wholeness of a person, good. To be considered good is either all or nothing. The Psalmist said that there is none good (Ps. 14:3), and Paul said the same thing (Ro. 3:12). When reality checks in we find ourselves to all being bad, it is more of an impossibility to being good. The scriptures countless exhorts us to turn from our wicked ways (ps. 34:14). Jesus told the rich young man that there is not one good. That the only one that is good is God himself (Jer. 32:40).
There is something greater then being good that; although we cannot be good, but we can be and that is perfect. We cannot be good, but we can be perfect. Jesus said unto the rich young man that if he wanted to be perfect he needed to sell all that he had and take up his cross and follow him (Mt. 19:21). The term “perfect” , teleios (greek) and it means The beginning to perfection is the act of being good, and the process for perfection is through following Jesus. . The scripture says that we are in perfection (eph. 4:13) until we reach the statute of Christ Jesus. There is an exhortation for us to become perfect not good (2Cor.7:1 & He. 6:1) through the process of rejection; rejecting the things that contaminate our flesh and spirit. We can continue the path of perfection even though we fail, but for good once we fail we are no longer good.