Shownotes
What Kind of Person Are You Becoming?
Character isn't built overnight.
It's formed one decision, one relationship, and one act of faithfulness at a time.
In Part 6 of the Life on the Vine series, Dr. Gregg Marutzky explores the fruit of the Spirit known as goodness and why true goodness is far more than good behavior. Drawing from Galatians 5 and the rich biblical idea of tov, this message shows how genuine goodness flows from a heart transformed by God and naturally overflows into the lives of others.
Along the way, Gregg reflects on the lasting impact of youth camp, shares the story of a camper named Jimmy whose life was forever changed, and challenges us to build a culture marked by empathy, grace, integrity, truth, justice, generosity, and Christlike love.
Whether you're raising a family, leading at work, serving in your community, or simply asking what kind of legacy you'll leave behind, this message reminds us that the greatest influence we have often comes through the character we cultivate.
00:00 Sermon on Goodness
01:50 Fruit of the Spirit
02:38 Defining True Goodness
03:29 God Is the Source
05:09 Greek Meaning Agathosune
06:54 Generosity Over Selfishness
09:41 Building a Tov Church
11:34 Treat People as People
13:28 Circle of Tov Values
15:18 Gooder Church Challenge
15:36 Selflessness and Surrender
16:41 Spirit Overflowing Goodness
18:05 Choose Spiritual Over Carnal
19:37 Proverbs On Good Reputation
21:39 Grace Trains Us For Good
24:23 Obstacles To Being Good
25:58 Cultivating Goodness Practices
26:55 Gratitude And Heart Change
29:42 Affirm Goodness In Others
31:40 Habits And Final Charge
Transcripts
Dr. Gregg Marutzky:
2
:The sermon this morning
is about goodness Amen.
3
:You know, uh, preachers are always
wanting people to be their best
4
:self, to be good, not to be bad.
5
:And, uh, so one preacher, he was
bold one Sunday, and he had seen
6
:a guy at church that hardly ever
came, and he decided, "You know,
7
:it's time for me to say something.
8
:I've been holding back.
9
:I, I probably won't see this
guy for another several months,
10
:so I just gotta say something."
11
:And he, he, he, he went up to him
after church, and he said, "You
12
:know, I really want you to be a
strong soldier in the army of God.
13
:I want you to be in the army of God.
14
:I've been praying for you
to be in the army of God."
15
:And the man looked around for a minute.
16
:He says, "Keep it down.
17
:I'm in the Secret Service."
18
:Some of you thought that was
cute, some of you didn't.
19
:Life on the vine.
20
:Goodness.
21
:Goodness.
22
:Don't you wanna be known as a
good person whenever you pass?
23
:Don't you wanna have that reputation?
24
:Don't you wanna go from wherever
you're at, wherever you start,
25
:to having a good reputation?
26
:I, I, I think I'm gonna need
a little help this morning.
27
:Uh, Satan's alive and
well in our technology.
28
:And, uh, so next slide please.
29
:And if you haven't gotten this
book, go ahead and, uh, get it
30
:Next slide, please.
31
:Satan's back there, too.
32
:It's up here, and he's back there.
33
:Let's drive him out.
34
:There he is.
35
:All right.
36
:And next slide.
37
:Let's try to memorize this together as
we're going through this, this series.
38
:But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness,
39
:goodness, gentleness, self-control.
40
:Amen?
41
:Amen.
42
:And let, let, let's, uh, let's get
those on our mind, on our hearts, and
43
:let's constantly be thinking about them.
44
:Today, we're talking about goodness.
45
:The opposite of that, you could say,
is badness, but let's, uh, uh, put
46
:it in a little different context.
47
:It could be selfishness.
48
:As you hear the definition this morning,
you're gonna see why I'm making the
49
:contrast selfishness because of the,
the biblical definition of goodness.
50
:Here's my simple definition
of goodness, all right?
51
:Goodness is…
52
:All right.
53
:Yep, Satan's back there.
54
:Goodness is the natural inward
transformation produced by the Holy
55
:Spirit as you grow closer to God.
56
:Let me say that again.
57
:There we go.
58
:We've got it on the board.
59
:Goodness is natural.
60
:Amen.
61
:It's inward.
62
:It has to come from
somewhere supernatural, from
63
:without, not from within.
64
:Produced by what?
65
:The Holy Spirit.
66
:The Holy Spirit.
67
:It's a byproduct, guys.
68
:You can't manufacture it in your life.
69
:You can't just decide,
"I'm gonna be good."
70
:You need help to be good.
71
:That's right.
72
:That's right.
73
:All right?
74
:And the way that you become good,
listen to this, this is very
75
:important, by getting closer to God.
76
:Amen.
77
:You become good by getting closer to good.
78
:God is good.
79
:Amen.
80
:And some of us struggle
with believing that.
81
:Yeah.
82
:It's not good sometimes.
83
:Oh, I love the songs we sang this morning.
84
:Goodness is running after you.
85
:This morning, this sermon is running
after you, 'cause I want everybody
86
:to leave here wanting to be good.
87
:Amen.
88
:To be gooder.
89
:All right?
90
:Doctors can make up words
91
:I want us to be good.
92
:I want us to be closer to God.
93
:I want us to believe in
the faithfulness of God.
94
:If you don't believe God is good,
then you're not gonna wanna be good.
95
:If you don't believe God is good, you,
you won't believe you can become good.
96
:If you don't believe God
is good, you don't believe
97
:other people can become good.
98
:You've gotta get solid on God is good
99
:We sing about it.
100
:His faithfulness, the goodness of God,
the goodness of God, the goodness of God.
101
:I choked up on that, too.
102
:I'm emotional this
morning for some reason.
103
:Something in the water
down here, all right?
104
:Come on.
105
:I, I usually drink Smartwater.
106
:That's…
107
:But that keeps me from being emotional.
108
:I guess I need to get off of
that and stay soft-hearted, amen?
109
:Goodness is natural by being close to God.
110
:From the Greek, the ancient Greek
word for goodness is agathosune,
111
:agathosune, okay?
112
:And it's a noun that describes active
benevolence, means you see it, moral
113
:excellence, and a generous desire,
listen to this, to bless others.
114
:If you're good, you bless others.
115
:Good people are a
blessing to other people.
116
:Yes.
117
:You know, I walked in this morning,
I probably ran into 10 good people.
118
:I stopped and hugged five of them,
and said, "You're a good man.
119
:You're a good woman.
120
:You're good."
121
:And they just bring…
122
:Good people bring smiles to your face.
123
:Look at these good women right here.
124
:This is a bunch of the
prayer women right here.
125
:You need help in your life
spiritually, here you go, right here.
126
:Wow.
127
:All right?
128
:Go up afterwards to that, the prayer
room, and get good, all right?
129
:Wow.
130
:It rubs off.
131
:Good people rub o- I was
a campus minister at MIT.
132
:That's how I got so smart.
133
:I wish it w- was that easy.
134
:I wish it were.
135
:But goodness is a generous
desire to bless others.
136
:It comes from the root word
agathos, which means inherently
137
:good, virtuous, and beneficial.
138
:But c- you can't just
decide, "I'm gonna be good."
139
:You gotta do things to become good.
140
:Yes.
141
:You've got to grow in
spirituality so you become good.
142
:I wish it were easier.
143
:It's not easy, but it's worth it.
144
:Come on.
145
:It's worth it.
146
:Goodness is moral integrity that
com- compels believers to selflessly
147
:act for the benefit of others.
148
:Why do some people deny
themselves so much?
149
:Because they're good people.
150
:Why do some people love to serve?
151
:'Cause they're good.
152
:They have fed that part of their nature.
153
:They've shrunk the evil and the bad,
they've flushed out the pollution
154
:that the world has, has infected us
all with, and they've become better
155
:and better and gooder and gooder.
156
:Amen.
157
:Amen.
158
:All right?
159
:Wow.
160
:They've changed.
161
:They've changed.
162
:Very few people in high school…
163
:I'm not going to my high
school reunion here this year.
164
:It's my 50th.
165
:I'm not going, 'cause I wasn't
good, and they don't wanna see me,
166
:and I don't really wanna see them.
167
:Now, I became a Christian, and
I wanna be around the reunion
168
:of the, my campus ministry.
169
:Wow.
170
:I wanna be around when I was a good
person, and those people wanna see me too.
171
:There's something about being
good that's so awesome, isn't it?
172
:Goodness is to selfishly act
for the benefit of others.
173
:In action, it is generosity and charity.
174
:You know, there's studies that
show that people under 40 are
175
:less generous than people over 40
176
:Probably is in every generation,
and probably the older you
177
:get, the more generous you get,
'cause maybe you have more.
178
:But maybe you just get wiser, and you've
l- got a little more life experience,
179
:and you realize, "Hey, I don't need all
this, and I wanna be a good person."
180
:Sometimes when you're younger,
you're focused on success or pleasure
181
:or relationships or other things
and not focused on wanting to be
182
:generous or charitable or good.
183
:Goodness is a core attribute of God.
184
:Agathosune is goodness
for the benefit of others.
185
:It's not just being good for yourself,
that you can feel good about yourself.
186
:And we should feel good about ourselves.
187
:We should affirm ourselves.
188
:We should love ourselves, the Bible
says, but we should be good for the
189
:sake of God and for the sake of others.
190
:The Hebrew word for goodness is tov,
which means pleasing, excellent, or right.
191
:And many of us have read these books.
192
:Next slide, please.
193
:These books called The Church- A Church
Called Tov and Pivot by Scott McKnight
194
:and his daughter, Laura Barringer.
195
:And, uh, I want our
church to be a tov church.
196
:Amen.
197
:A church that's full of good people- Yeah
198
:and a good culture.
199
:Amen.
200
:And people walk in, like I walked into
the Boulder Church of Christ when I
201
:was 19 years old in, in a God-forsaken
place from the University of Colorado.
202
:I tell you, in this, the '70s,
Boulder was not a spiritual place.
203
:Okay?
204
:Well, it was spiritual,
but it was ugly spirits.
205
:All right?
206
:Coarse spirits and other things.
207
:Uh, you, you may…
208
:I- it's my own opinion,
but I think it was true.
209
:All right?
210
:But I want people to walk into this church
and say, "Hey, that's a good church.
211
:Those are good people.
212
:There's a good culture there."
213
:And so McKnight tells us a little
bit how to be a good church.
214
:He says, next slide please, "Culture
socializes us, forming our beliefs,
215
:behaviors, values, and morals."
216
:And so we want to develop a good,
a tov culture here in our church.
217
:Amen?
218
:Amen.
219
:We want a goodness to permeate things.
220
:Oh, yes.
221
:And then he and his daughter wrote in
the next slide, and listen to this.
222
:It's a little bit of a longer
reading, but I, it's important.
223
:"The circle of tov," and I'm gonna
share that with you next, "begins when
224
:a church sees people as people- Amen
225
:and treats them as people."
226
:That sounds simple.
227
:I think we can do that, right?
228
:By nurturing them to become
what God designed them to be.
229
:People with names and
histories and stories.
230
:I believe you, you, you, you hear people's
stories, you fall in love with them.
231
:People who are doing well and
people who are not doing well.
232
:People who are recovering
from church abuse and people
233
:that have never been abused.
234
:People who've had surgeries and sickness.
235
:People who are aging, people who are
rich and poor, and everything in between.
236
:People who are wounded and in
need of healing, and people who
237
:are unemployed and underemployed.
238
:People who need encouragement
or tan- tangible assistance.
239
:The essence of treating people as
people can be summed up in the 12 simple
240
:words by Je- by Jesus, "Do to others
as you would like them to do to you."
241
:That's what produces a good culture.
242
:Yes.
243
:Sees people as people and
treats them as people.
244
:Yes.
245
:Sees people…
246
:Do people see you?
247
:Make eye contact when you're talking
When you're fellowshipping, do you see
248
:these kids looking out here so confident?
249
:Yeah.
250
:Standing up straight.
251
:Wow.
252
:So articulate.
253
:Amen.
254
:I didn't even know some of those
words when I was their age.
255
:Yeah.
256
:Definitely couldn't say them.
257
:That's right.
258
:That little Logan, man, he's a big,
he, he's a big package in a small-
259
:stature.
260
:Right?
261
:He was so…
262
:I mean, all of them, awesome.
263
:What's the circle of tov?
264
:Next slide.
265
:What do we wanna display?
266
:What do we wanna be in our church?
267
:We wanna be empathetic.
268
:Yeah.
269
:This is all good stuff.
270
:Yeah.
271
:Empathy, the ability to understand and
share the feelings of other persons.
272
:I don't know how your Passion
group has been going, but we've
273
:been developing greater empathy.
274
:We've been listening to
each other's stories.
275
:We've been having an incredible
group on Thursday night, 'cause
276
:we're growing in empathy.
277
:Grace, the unmerited favor.
278
:We're giving one another
forgiveness and love.
279
:People firstness.
280
:See, oh, Scott, he makes
up words, too, okay?
281
:First people firstness.
282
:I didn't know this was a word.
283
:Okay, I would've just said relational.
284
:But anyway, that's just me.
285
:Putting the needs of people above
the needs of the institution.
286
:Truth-telling or honest.
287
:Speaking the truth even when it is hard.
288
:Justice, uph- upholding what is
right, fair, and we could add good.
289
:Service, giving of oneself to help others.
290
:Yeah.
291
:Guys, let's not have
trouble getting volunteers.
292
:Let's all look for ways to serve.
293
:Can, can you amen that?
294
:Amen.
295
:I mean, let's not just be
into our own own lives.
296
:Let's not be self-centered.
297
:Let's deny ourselves.
298
:Let's be good.
299
:Amen.
300
:Amen.
301
:An invitation to goodness and service.
302
:Christ likeness, reflecting
the character of Jesus.
303
:And this is the circle
of go- of tov, or good.
304
:Yeah.
305
:Empathy, grace, relational,
truthful, justice, service,
306
:and then the Christ likeness.
307
:This just sums up being like Jesus.
308
:We're gonna be a good church.
309
:We're, we are a good church.
310
:We're gonna be a gooder church.
311
:Yeah.
312
:I'm stuck on that this morning.
313
:I apologize.
314
:It was not planned.
315
:It's not in the notes.
316
:It's not on the slides,
but I'm having fun with it.
317
:Gooder.
318
:Good.
319
:Greg, be gooder.
320
:Jesus says, "Why do you call me good?
321
:No one is good except God alone."
322
:Next slide, please.
323
:We cannot manufacture goodness.
324
:God is the source of goodness.
325
:Amen.
326
:All right?
327
:And then the next slide.
328
:Spiritual goodness for, means
being committed to selflessness.
329
:That's how you get spirit-filled, to
be committed to g- to selflessness.
330
:How are you spirit-led to
be committed to sacrifice?
331
:How are you spirit-minded to
be committed to surrender?
332
:How are you, we spirit-driven
to be committed to service?
333
:And we'll have this up
on the websla- site.
334
:I apologize for our technical
difficulties this morning.
335
:All right?
336
:Satan just doesn't want you to hear
this, but you're paying attention.
337
:Look at your eyes.
338
:Look at you guys.
339
:Even in the dark I can see you.
340
:All right?
341
:John 4, you know this story.
342
:Verses 13 and 14 said, "Jesus
answered, 'Everyone who drinks
343
:this water will be thirsty again.
344
:But whoever drinks this water
I give them will never thirst.
345
:Indeed, the water I give them will
become in them a spring of water
346
:welling up to eternal life.'"
347
:I've sort of welled up
before and started crying.
348
:I've welled up before
'cause of food poisoning.
349
:Let's not go there very far, all right?
350
:But this is welling up with
goodness, welling up with the
351
:Spirit overflowing out of your life.
352
:Good just comes up and overflows.
353
:You well up because you're so spiritual.
354
:Guys, make it a goal,
I wanna be spiritual.
355
:I want the fruits of the Spirit
to be overflowing out of my life.
356
:I want love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, gentleness,
357
:faithfulness, and self-control to
just ooze out of everything that I do.
358
:I want people to see and feel and sense
and smile at goodness, not because
359
:I'm good, because God made me good.
360
:Yes.
361
:Because God has transformed me, and
it's welling up and overflowing.
362
:Yet its time is coming.
363
:He goes on in verse 23 and says, "Na-
but it has now come when the true
364
:worshipers of God will worship the Father
in spirit and in truth, for they're the
365
:kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
366
:God is spirit, and His worshipers
must worship in spirit and truth."
367
:What he's saying, we've
gotta be spiritual.
368
:Amen.
369
:We, we need to be spiritual.
370
:You know what you're, what you
are if you aren't spiritual?
371
:Paul called the Corinthians this.
372
:He called them carnal.
373
:He called them worldly
374
:He called them unspiritual
375
:Let's be spiritual.
376
:All right?
377
:I mean, you can be dumb, but if
you're spiritual, you're good
378
:You can be unathletic, but if
you're spiritual, you're good.
379
:Yeah.
380
:You can be poor.
381
:If you're spiritual, you're good.
382
:Amen.
383
:You can be less than attractive, but
if you're spiritual, you're good.
384
:Yeah.
385
:Amen.
386
:'Cause it's inner beauty.
387
:Amen?
388
:Amen.
389
:Let's be as spiritual as we can be.
390
:Amen.
391
:Amen?
392
:Amen.
393
:And then 2 Corinthians 3:6 says,
"He has made us competent as
394
:ministers of a new covenant, not
of the letter but of the" what?
395
:Spirit.
396
:"For the letter kills, but
the spirit gives" what?
397
:Life.
398
:We wanna be spiritual.
399
:Proverbs 11 and verse 27 says, "He who
seeks good finds goodwill, but evil
400
:comes to him who searches for it."
401
:So let's seek to be good.
402
:Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is
more desirable than great riches."
403
:Your reputation is more
desirable than your bank account.
404
:"To be esteemed is better
than silver or gold."
405
:To be respected as spiritual is the key.
406
:Proverbs 12 and verse two, "A good
407
:man obtains favor from the Lord."
408
:God blesses the good person,
"But the Lord condemns" who?
409
:The crafty man.
410
:Some people, it's hard to trust.
411
:They're not straightforward.
412
:They're not direct in their speech.
413
:You ask them direct questions,
they don't give you direct answers.
414
:Their eyes are even a little shifty.
415
:They won't look you in the eye.
416
:They're looking around.
417
:They're hemming, they're hawing
418
:Don't be crafty.
419
:Don't be crafty.
420
:Be good.
421
:Proverbs 14 and verse 19 says,
"Evil men will bow down in the
422
:presence of the good, and the wicked
at the gates of the righteous."
423
:We see that in Esther.
424
:We see that in so many
of the biblical stories.
425
:Matthew 12 and verse 35 says, "The
good man brings good things out
426
:of the good stored up in him."
427
:You store up that good
stuff in your quiet times.
428
:You go- store up that good
stuff in your Bible reading.
429
:You store up that good stuff when
you're just by yourself doing and
430
:thinking about the goodness of God
and the good person you wanna be.
431
:And the evil man, though, brings evil
out of the evil stored up in him, sadly.
432
:This is one of my favorite verses, Titus
2, verses 11 through 14, "For the grace of
433
:God that brings salvation has appeared to
everybody," but not everybody's responded.
434
:It teaches us, though, as Christians
to say no to ungodliness and worldly
435
:passion, to the pollution that could come
in and keep us from being good, and to
436
:live self-controlled, upright, or good
and godly lives in this present age.
437
:While we wait for the blessed hope, the
appearing of the glory of our great God
438
:and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself
for us to redeem us from all pollution,
439
:garbage, wickedness, sin, and to purify
for Himself a people that are ver- his
440
:very own, eager to do what is good.
441
:The Greek could also be
translated eager to be good.
442
:Eager for goodness.
443
:That's what I wanna inspire us
to be today, this morning, folks.
444
:Good And for many of you,
you're already really good.
445
:But we can all take it higher, right?
446
:Yeah.
447
:Nobody's competing with
Jesus yet, all right?
448
:But we want to follow His example.
449
:In the same way, Matthew 5 and verse
16, "Let your light shine before
450
:men, that they may see" your what?
451
:Good deeds.
452
:"Good deeds, and praise
your Father in heaven."
453
:See, when people think about you, they're
not gonna think about, what a good person.
454
:They're gonna think,
what a good Christian.
455
:I used to know that guy
before he was a Christian.
456
:He wasn't good.
457
:Now, he, she, they're good.
458
:Yeah.
459
:Something changed in their life.
460
:I used to know them.
461
:Amen.
462
:Now they're different.
463
:Wow.
464
:Isn't that awesome?
465
:That is.
466
:And Christians, we're
growing all the time.
467
:Couple more.
468
:These are all inspiring, good stuff.
469
:Matthew 7:17-20 says, "Likewise,
every good tree bears good fruit,
470
:but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
471
:A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
472
:Every tree that does not bear good fruit
is cut down and thrown in the fire.
473
:Thus, by their fruit you
will recognize them."
474
:As he has said.
475
:By people's lives, by who
they are, we recognize them.
476
:What are some obstacles to being good?
477
:Pursuing pleasure.
478
:It's always gonna get in the way.
479
:It's good to enjoy life and to
have some pleasure in your life
480
:and do pleasurable things, and you
need breaks, you need vacations.
481
:You, you, you, you can't just be intense
and serious all the time, you know?
482
:But don't just constantly pursue it.
483
:Don't get addicted to happiness
'cause it's so fleeting.
484
:Lack of limits, not having boundaries,
and even addicted on just freedom.
485
:"I'm gonna do whatever I wanna do."
486
:No, be responsible.
487
:All right?
488
:'Cause your freedom may infringe
upon someone else's freedom.
489
:Don't be addicted to it.
490
:Enjoy it.
491
:Appreciate it.
492
:But extremes always get us in trouble.
493
:Exalting of effort.
494
:See, you can get addicted to success.
495
:It feels good to be successful.
496
:It feels good to accomplish
things, but that's not the
497
:main purpose of life ourselves.
498
:The purpose of life is being
like God and being good.
499
:And then sometimes just being
in denial, addicted to denial,
500
:refusal to really see reality.
501
:We can either be good or bad and not
think that we're better than we are.
502
:We've gotta constantly strive.
503
:How do you cultivate goodness, though?
504
:This is good stuff.
505
:Surrender to God.
506
:Seek God.
507
:Get closer to God.
508
:Acknowledge our need for God.
509
:Worship God.
510
:We've been drawing closer.
511
:You're getting gooder by the, by
breathing in here, by being here,
512
:by sitting next to good people.
513
:I guess it is contagious, isn't it?
514
:Practicing prayer and fasting.
515
:What is that?
516
:That's seeking God for transformation.
517
:I don't know about you, but I've had
to beg God, "God, change my heart.
518
:I'm trying, but I s- I can't control this.
519
:I can't control my speech.
520
:I can't have this kind of goodness
that I need," especially as a minister.
521
:"I need you, God."
522
:I've begged God to change
me at times, and He does.
523
:That's the encouraging thing.
524
:He does.
525
:You know, I saw myself being
an ungrateful person lately,
526
:and I was so ashamed of myself.
527
:I'm like, we moved into this house,
and it's an amazing house, and,
528
:and, and, and, and, you know.
529
:But it's about a third the size
of the house we had before.
530
:Well, we had too big a house, yes.
531
:I remember when we bought it, my
son-in-law said, "Craig, you, you
532
:and Cathy, it's just the two of you.
533
:You don't need this big a…"
534
:"I'm buying it for the s- square
footage, buying it for the resale."
535
:And I'm glad I did it.
536
:I, I, I got some good equity out
of it by buying a bigger house
537
:than I needed, but it spoiled me.
538
:We had rooms probably for
months we didn't even go into.
539
:You know?
540
:I mean, we, we had a big house, uh, uh,
up in Antelope Valley, and now we've
541
:had to downsize, and we planned on it.
542
:We knew we'd have to downsize,
and then at this time in our
543
:life, we wanted to downsize.
544
:But when you downsize, you're like, "Huh
545
:And one day it hit me, this is wrong
546
:You're telling people publicly,
constantly, Greg, to be grateful.
547
:And you're, you're not content.
548
:What more do you need?
549
:What more do you want?
550
:And it, and God changed my heart.
551
:I started praying about it.
552
:He cha- Now I woke this
morning, I'm walking around my
553
:house, "Wow, this is so great.
554
:This is so wonderful."
555
:Amen.
556
:And it was such a good feeling, and
it, and it didn't come from me, though.
557
:Wow.
558
:I'm not a, a good naturally.
559
:I'm a selfish person naturally.
560
:I want more naturally.
561
:Yeah, yeah.
562
:I'm, I'm, I'm all these things
that the world polluted me with.
563
:Yeah.
564
:But I want to be good.
565
:Yeah.
566
:Amen.
567
:And you do too.
568
:And so you've been at it as long as I,
many of you, and some of you even longer.
569
:You're older than me, praise God, amen.
570
:A few of you.
571
:We wanna be good.
572
:God bless us.
573
:God bless us, amen.
574
:Amen.
575
:Few more slides, we're gonna wrap up.
576
:Lack of prayer
577
:Lack of silence, lack of
gratitude, lack of purpose.
578
:It's not the right heart.
579
:We need to get filled.
580
:We need to get led by the Spirit.
581
:We need to be Spirit-minded.
582
:And then to close out
583
:In expressing goodness, guys,
affirm the goodness in others,
584
:especially your family.
585
:I need to affirm my
wife, Kathy, much more.
586
:We were in a devotional yesterday
with some of the dating couples, and
587
:she was saying some things about,
you know, you, you need to be…
588
:women need to be adored and loved
and thought, all this stuff.
589
:And I, "Oh, man, I haven't
been doing all that."
590
:It's so good to be teaching others
'cause you gotta live up to it.
591
:And Kathy, I was listening,
and I'm gonna try harder.
592
:Affirm their goodness.
593
:Oh.
594
:Recognize the good examples.
595
:Tell some people this morning before you
leave what a good example they are to you.
596
:Go up to some neighbors and do a
good deed for a neighbor, all right?
597
:There, there's, there's, there's
a lot of, of, of widows and people
598
:living alone in our neighborhood.
599
:I'm, I'm gonna try to figure
out some good deeds to do.
600
:And then for strangers,
find something good.
601
:You know, I'm, I'm trying to crack
one of the ladies at the pharmacy.
602
:Unfortunately, I have to buy a
lot of prescriptions and, and, uh,
603
:they seem to get spread out that
I can't all pick them up at once.
604
:I have…
605
:Like once a week I'm picking one up.
606
:And there's w- this one
lady, man, she's just
607
:She just seems so mad at the world.
608
:And I say nice things, and I
try to lighten her up, but the
609
:more I try to lighten her up,
the worse look I get from her.
610
:Like, "Do not talk to me."
611
:You know?
612
:"I'll help you, but don't make
it hard on me by being nice."
613
:And I'm gonna break through.
614
:I'm gonna break through this lady.
615
:It … But this has been months.
616
:There's something going
on with that poor soul.
617
:Aw.
618
:And I hurt for her.
619
:Here's a few thoughts to close out with.
620
:A couple books if you … Some
of you are real readers.
621
:You can get this little book, The
Let Them Theory or the Atomic Habits.
622
:You can take a picture of
this if you want, guys.
623
:These are some things to try to be
good and to be better, all right?
624
:The Let Me core principles are,
you know, stop managing others.
625
:Let go.
626
:Let go of them.
627
:Love yourself, embrace personal
responsibility, set boundaries,
628
:and then you'll be happier.
629
:Just let it be.
630
:Let it be.
631
:That's a good Beatles song.
632
:And then the Atomic Habits.
633
:You know, these are four laws
for changing your behavior.
634
:If you wanna be better, then cue yourself.
635
:Make it obvious.
636
:People put up these Post-it Notes on their
car, on their fridge, on their doors,
637
:you know, to remind them of something.
638
:You know, make it attractive.
639
:Want to do it, all right?
640
:Buy some new running shoes if you
wanna exercise and walk around.
641
:Just, you just cue yourself.
642
:Develop a craving for it.
643
:And then make it easy.
644
:Don't set these unrealistic goals.
645
:Just start with two minutes, five
minutes, that kinda thing, and
646
:then reward yourself, all right?
647
:Sometimes Cathy and I, we go get
the two for $6 sundae at, at Dairy
648
:Queen at the end of long days.
649
:Ooh.
650
:You know?
651
:Some days we go home 9:30, 10:00 at night.
652
:We've had long days in the ministry,
and we look at each other, and
653
:I know what she's thinking, and
she knows what I'm thinking.
654
:I go, "Yes."
655
:And we don't blow the budget, you know?
656
:We get the special, $6.
657
:So I'm carrying six bucks in
my wallet almost all the time
658
:Be good.
659
:Be a blessing to others
660
:Be good, Greg.
661
:Be a blessing to others.
662
:Don't be a pain, Greg.
663
:Be good.
664
:Amen?
665
:Amen.
666
:Reflect on goodness.
667
:Every time we take of the Lord's
supper, every time we worship,
668
:every time we serve, as we try to
change, God's gonna make us good.
669
:Goodness is running after us.
670
:Amen.
671
:God bless.
