The Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

By Robb Brunansky

Published July 1, 2025

As we have studied the fruit of the Spirit, we have seen how we’ve had to define each term carefully from Scripture because our culturally determined definitions are inadequate and often incorrect. Perhaps none of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians is as confused as the virtue of goodness.

A fundamental problem with the human condition is that sinners confuse good and evil (Isaiah 5:20). Sometimes they do this willfully, but other times they do it under deception. Goodness, then, is impossible to discern and define based on our cultural and societal standards. Like the many generations before us, we live in a time where evil is held up as good, and good is maligned as evil.

Goodness is also difficult to define because it is not inherent to fallen humanity (Romans 7:18). When the Apostle Paul looked at himself in his fallen human nature, in his flesh apart from the power of the Spirit of God, he recognized that nothing good dwells in him. Goodness, then, is an alien concept to those of us, whose hearts have not been regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

On the other side, we have the fruit of the Spirit, which is goodness. This fruit is not natural to us, but it is supernatural through us when we belong to Christ through faith. When God’s spirit dwells in us, His goodness flows through us – we are the channels, and He is the source. To grow in this virtue, we need to understand three things about goodness.

First, we must understand the nature of goodness.

Goodness is morally upright generosity toward others produced by the Spirit in all believers. Note two key parts in this definition. God defines good and evil, and whatever conforms to the Lord’s standard of good is good. Additionally, true goodness cannot be self-contained; it involves giving to others.

Let’s see how Scripture bears out this concept of goodness as morally upright generosity, starting with creation. In Genesis 1, the term good appears seven times to describe the creation. Creation, therefore, reflected the true nature of goodness. It was morally upright, the opposite of evil, but it was more than that. It reflected the lavish generosity of a good God, who gave abundantly above and beyond the basic life necessities. His blessings overflowed on His creation, especially on humanity. Overwhelming blessing marks the nature of the Lord’s goodness just as much as moral uprightness.

Scripture also portrays the concept of goodness as Providence. After the creation, sin entered the world. Yet the entrance of evil did not alter the meaning of goodness. In fact, it allows us to see God’s goodness even more clearly against the terrible backdrop of humanity’s evil. The Lord continues to show His goodness especially in His providence. There are two texts that help us see the nature of goodness in a fallen world.

The first is with Joseph and his brothers in Egypt (Genesis 50:20). God’s goodness was seen in His providence as He provided for evil people that were Joseph’s brothers. He gave to them even though they sought to steal for themselves. The result is both morally good (saving life), but also generous in God’s provision for those who do not deserve it.

The second is a well-known verse in Paul’s letter to the Romans (Romans 8:28). God, in His wise and merciful providence, makes everything turn out for our good if we love Him. Justice will be done, and the Lord’s generosity toward His people will triumph. We won’t get to the new creation and merely think, “Well, everything is now right.” We will celebrate, “Everything is beautiful, glorious, and good.”

As we see with the verse from Romans, there is a contrast between what is right and what is good (Romans 5:7). The person who is righteous does all the right things, but very few others are inspired by his performance. The person who is good also does the right things, but his goodness overflows into the lives of others so they are inspired and moved. The type of goodness Paul has in mind in Galatians is an inspiring goodness – a passionate doing of what is right that spills over to others in generosity. Christians are not merely called to obedience in avoiding what is wrong and doing what is right, but in doing what is right in such a way that it benefits others and inspires them to want to do what is right, too.

Second, we must understand the cultivation of goodness.

To start, we should recognize this is a supernatural, not a natural, virtue. We see this in the exchange between Jesus and the rich, young ruler (Luke 18:19). The lesson the ruler needed to learn was that people by nature are not good. Before we can cultivate any goodness in our lives, we must come to terms with this fundamental problem. The kind of goodness God wants to produce in our lives by His Spirit comes only by His Spirit. It can’t come by our own willpower or efforts.

We must also give ourselves to the Lord. One shining example of goodness in the New Testament is the Macedonian church (2 Corinthians 8). These Christians dedicated their entire lives to the Lord. They consciously regarded nothing as their own, and they considered all their belongings as God’s. Nothing was off limits to Him. As we give ourselves to the Lord, recognizing all we are and have belongs to Him, we are filled with His Spirit. As His Spirit dwells in us, His goodness flows through us. We become channels of divine generosity, so people experience God’s goodness through our lives.

Third, we should understand the expression of goodness.

There are a couple of applications to help us see what this goodness looks like, starting with walking in holiness and rejecting what is evil. When we remember that goodness includes moral uprightness, we realize that to be truly good is to reject evil. To mirror God’s goodness is to mirror His purity. When God does good, He always does it according to righteousness. So, to express goodness in our lives, we must intentionally seek holiness, purity, and obedience to the Word of God.

Another application is that we must seek to edify others – not just please ourselves. In the church, we find people with all kinds of different opinions, preferences, and desires on what are commonly called disputable matters. The temptation is for us to keep all our own rules and then look down on or condemn those who have different convictions about these kinds of matters. However, Paul gives a different vision in Romans 15. We should bear with the weaknesses of others, build up one another, and receive each other as brothers and sisters – in short, we must be good to one another.

There are many other applications for this fruit of the Spirit. Yet, if we think about it, we might sum up goodness as embracing holiness that seeks to benefit others generously.

The fruit of the Spirit is goodness, and goodness is morally upright generosity toward others produced by the Spirit in all believers. May the Lord’s goodness flow through us to continually build each other up in the body of Christ.