But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance against such there is no law – Galatians 5:22-23

Goodness is generosity, it’s a virtue that Christians should possess. Christian virtue refers not to some abstract notion of proper behavior, but to the fruit of the Spirit in the life of the believer, produced not by human activity, but the Divine.

Goodness and generosity acts are given by unbelievers who don’t reverence God nor His word, so this in itself will let us know that God has given humans the virtue of goodness to carry out generosity to the needy, the love for one’s fellow human being, but this goodness is created in our human character and not our spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can create goodness in our spirit, (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord – Ephesians 5:9-10).  Most religions have goodness, but they don’t have the truth of God’s word. When our spirit is sanctified by His Spirit, then can we bring forth His fruit.

When a person is drunk with an alcoholic beverage, his walk, talk and sight are controlled by alcohol. God’s desire that the mind of Christians be controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they will walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the desire of our human self-will. Before we can experience total victory over our wills we must go on the offensive in Satan’s territory; the areas of our lives we have not fully surrendered to God, and using the powerful force of our restored will and bring them into conformity to God’s will.

Goodness is charitable acts to the needy, but when Scripture speaks about goodness relating them to the Spirit of God, He’s talking about our character, behavior and willingness to submit every area of our life according to the Word of God. Goodness is when you’re kind to others even when they don’t show appreciation, goodness is when God instructs you to do something, you’re not questioning why, but do it because He has given you the instructions to do it.

Goodness is living according to the Word of God and not the standards of the world. Today’s Christians, think they can live as though they were prior to excepting Jesus as their Savior, but we can’t if we’re going to follow Jesus. Jesus came to do the will of His Father, and since God is our Father, we too should have a mind-set to do the will of our Father. The old desires we had as an unbeliever shouldn’t be continued in our hearts, that’s if we’re followers of Christ (Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean things: and I will receive you – 2nd Corinthians 6:17). There are certain places Christians shouldn’t go, drinks and actions professing Christians shouldn’t be involved in. As Christians, we shouldn’t isolate ourselves from unbelievers, but discouraging compromise with their sinful values and practices.

If we’re going places and carrying out the same actions as an unbeliever, what was the purpose of Jesus dying for us, to reconcile us to the Father? Then He empowered us through the Holy Spirit living within us to constrain ourselves from living contrary to God’s written word. Goodness is spiritual, a fruit of the Spirit that God gives to the believer and  when we allow the Holy Spirit to make it productive in the life of a believer.