Day 107 (Year 3)

Let the Power of God’s Goodness Grow Ever Stronger

“Not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.” (1 John 3:12 NKJV)

The scripture above shows that Cain murdered his righteous brother—because he was consumed by jealousy and could not accept that his brother was more pleasing to God than he was. In fact, the devil seeks to destroy every desire and capacity for goodness within people and to puff up the power of evil. Conversely, for us to turn from Satan’s dominion to God, the goodness that comes from Jesus must keep growing stronger in us and overcome the evil within ourselves and around us.

Why was the life of Joshua the high priest, as mentioned earlier, like a stick plucked from the fire (Zechariah 3:2)? Because at that time, the Israelites had suffered greatly. The people’s conduct had been contaminated by various evils. Many had turned away from God’s law, and so they were killed, taken captive, and ruled over by wicked foreign nations. In fact, those imprisoned among sinners will hardly fail to be stirred up toward hatred, and will easily become tainted by sin. Believers in suffering are also pressed to do wrong, in general. But God desires to transform our lives—moving us from a spiral of accumulating iniquity to receiving His forgiveness and reflecting His goodness.

Earlier we discussed how Jesus’ atonement transforms believers so that we no longer practice sin. The counterargument says that even after believing in Jesus, sinning is inevitable. This latter view sees sin as having greater power, even surpassing Jesus’. In practice, this view honors the forces of evil. But Jesus has greater power and is absolutely capable of transforming human hearts so that we hate and resist evil and promote God’s goodness solely.

If believers do not deal with the evil within ourselves, it will inevitably affect others and even undermine righteousness. Therefore, the strength, perseverance, knowledge, and wisdom of those who pursue goodness must grow. We must understand and resist the devil’s schemes that seek to destroy what is good. In practice, believers who pursue goodness must expand our network of good people who also pursue it, supporting and working to help one another to leave evil and turn to what is good. In this way, understanding why people do wrong and sin, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus to others, and pursuing righteousness in daily life are all equally vital.

Reflection questions:

1) Is your motivation to pursue godly goodness and strength growing ever stronger? If it is lacking, what will you do?

2) Recently, has the network you have built with those who pursue goodness been continually expanding? If you can think of anyone who demonstrates godly goodness, pray about it and reach out to them according to God’s guidance.