What is good?
I love words.
I love making words dance and sing and twirl. I love words that say exactly what I want to express. I love words because they allow others to see what's going on inside our hearts and our minds.
And the best kind of words are the ones God impresses on us.
Lately I've felt drawn to the words rejoice and be silent. I get so excited to pull out my 10-pound concordance, digging deeply, spending hours looking up all the scriptures so that I can really understand the meaning of that special word.
Today's word is simply awesome. PLUS, I found a new resource for understanding words in Scripture. It's easy to use and will open your mind to how deep and beautiful the words of the Bible can be! TRY IT!
So I'm in the middle of memorizing a passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22:
And I kept getting drawn back to the word good.
In our contemporary language, good is fine. Alright. Acceptable. But not great. It could be better. Nowhere near awesome or perfect or splendid. A little bit boring. Not typically one of my favorite words.
But Scripture's good is different.
In the Hebrew/Old Testament, the word for good is defined "good, pleasing, desirable; goodness, can refer to quality as well as moral goodness." The Greek/New testament word is similar: "good, right, beautiful, fine, excellent."
So in 1 Thessalonians, when it says, "Hold on to what is good," I want to do just that. The phrase makes me think of the time in college when my sister and I went to New York City to visit my uncle for New Year's Eve. We got to Time's Square at about 7 PM, bundled and ready to stand around for five hours. We played cards and froze until about 11, when it started to get lively. You could feel energy from all the people and the anticipation. The countdown began and we had a blast with the other thousands of people crammed around us. The ball dropped, we sang the song, and then my sister and I felt out uncle grab our wrists--HARD--as he sternly said, "HOLD ON." (I'm not gonna lie. It was super intense.) He had lived in New York for years and he knew what was coming: the mass of people had become like a wave of the ocean, and as every individual began to move in the direction he or she wanted to go, we got pulled. In every direction. I held onto his wrist as tightly as I could as he dragged us away from the crowds and over to safety.
That's what we do to good. We hold on to it. Tightly. Desperately.
So what is good, really? Well there are things that are good because they are pleasing, desirable, beautiful, or fine. You can have a good dog, a good pair of shoes, good chap stick, and good coffee.
But that's not the good that these verses talk about:
"How beautiful on the mountains...are the feet of those who bring good tidings," (Isaiah 52:7).
"Spur one another on toward love and good deeds," (Hebrews 10:24).
"Guard the good deposit entrusted to us..." (2 Timothy 1:14).
This is a good that is more than just pleasing or desirable; it has a moral aspect to it. Paul seems to write his own definition for good in Philippians 4:8:
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
Hold on to what is good. Think about it. Make those things your passion, your focus, your ministry.
Not because it makes you good. But because of where good comes from.
"...the LORD is good and His love endures forever," (Psalm 100:5)
God is good. And not only is He good, He is good to us. God's goodness is revealed in His actions, particularly in His love.
So should ours.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God," (Micah 6:8).
We hold on to what is good not only by taking it in but also by spreading it around. We make it our goal to know God better, because He is the source of all things good. ("God saw that it was good," Genesis 1:8, 12, 18, 21, 25). He defines good. He reveals good. HE IS GOOD and anything good in us is Him.
So we hold on to good. And we live good. And we do good. And we choose good. Because God is good and He calls us to be good like Him.
You can do it. Find the good in your life--not the society-defined good, but the God-defined good--and hold on to it. Don't let it go. Don't set it down. Don't forget about it. Keep your mind and your heart and your focus on God's goodness and He will reveal other good things to you, as well (Matthew 6:33).
Good isn't boring or acceptable or normal. It's awesome.
It's my new favorite word.
@Leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
And I would be honored if you want to share this post (and others!) on any kind of social media you like. Thanks for spreading the word!
I love making words dance and sing and twirl. I love words that say exactly what I want to express. I love words because they allow others to see what's going on inside our hearts and our minds.
And the best kind of words are the ones God impresses on us.
Lately I've felt drawn to the words rejoice and be silent. I get so excited to pull out my 10-pound concordance, digging deeply, spending hours looking up all the scriptures so that I can really understand the meaning of that special word.
Today's word is simply awesome. PLUS, I found a new resource for understanding words in Scripture. It's easy to use and will open your mind to how deep and beautiful the words of the Bible can be! TRY IT!
So I'm in the middle of memorizing a passage from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22:
Rejoice always!
Pray constantly.
Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Don't stifle the Spirit.
Don't despise prophecies, but test all things.
Hold on to what is good.
Stay away from every kind of evil.
And I kept getting drawn back to the word good.
In our contemporary language, good is fine. Alright. Acceptable. But not great. It could be better. Nowhere near awesome or perfect or splendid. A little bit boring. Not typically one of my favorite words.
But Scripture's good is different.
In the Hebrew/Old Testament, the word for good is defined "good, pleasing, desirable; goodness, can refer to quality as well as moral goodness." The Greek/New testament word is similar: "good, right, beautiful, fine, excellent."
So in 1 Thessalonians, when it says, "Hold on to what is good," I want to do just that. The phrase makes me think of the time in college when my sister and I went to New York City to visit my uncle for New Year's Eve. We got to Time's Square at about 7 PM, bundled and ready to stand around for five hours. We played cards and froze until about 11, when it started to get lively. You could feel energy from all the people and the anticipation. The countdown began and we had a blast with the other thousands of people crammed around us. The ball dropped, we sang the song, and then my sister and I felt out uncle grab our wrists--HARD--as he sternly said, "HOLD ON." (I'm not gonna lie. It was super intense.) He had lived in New York for years and he knew what was coming: the mass of people had become like a wave of the ocean, and as every individual began to move in the direction he or she wanted to go, we got pulled. In every direction. I held onto his wrist as tightly as I could as he dragged us away from the crowds and over to safety.
That's what we do to good. We hold on to it. Tightly. Desperately.
So what is good, really? Well there are things that are good because they are pleasing, desirable, beautiful, or fine. You can have a good dog, a good pair of shoes, good chap stick, and good coffee.
But that's not the good that these verses talk about:
"How beautiful on the mountains...are the feet of those who bring good tidings," (Isaiah 52:7).
"Spur one another on toward love and good deeds," (Hebrews 10:24).
"Guard the good deposit entrusted to us..." (2 Timothy 1:14).
This is a good that is more than just pleasing or desirable; it has a moral aspect to it. Paul seems to write his own definition for good in Philippians 4:8:
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."
Hold on to what is good. Think about it. Make those things your passion, your focus, your ministry.
Not because it makes you good. But because of where good comes from.
"...the LORD is good and His love endures forever," (Psalm 100:5)
God is good. And not only is He good, He is good to us. God's goodness is revealed in His actions, particularly in His love.
So should ours.
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God," (Micah 6:8).
We hold on to what is good not only by taking it in but also by spreading it around. We make it our goal to know God better, because He is the source of all things good. ("God saw that it was good," Genesis 1:8, 12, 18, 21, 25). He defines good. He reveals good. HE IS GOOD and anything good in us is Him.
So we hold on to good. And we live good. And we do good. And we choose good. Because God is good and He calls us to be good like Him.
You can do it. Find the good in your life--not the society-defined good, but the God-defined good--and hold on to it. Don't let it go. Don't set it down. Don't forget about it. Keep your mind and your heart and your focus on God's goodness and He will reveal other good things to you, as well (Matthew 6:33).
Good isn't boring or acceptable or normal. It's awesome.
It's my new favorite word.
@Leslienotebook
myleslienotebook@gmail.com
And I would be honored if you want to share this post (and others!) on any kind of social media you like. Thanks for spreading the word!
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