"But the fruit of the Spirit is...GOODNESS"

The sixth fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians is...Goodness. The chosen writer for this one is Lisa Witte. I met Lisa wayyyyyyyy back in our college years at Ozark Christian College. Though we didn't hang out and do a lot together, I always knew Lisa to be very kind, sweet, and a hard worker. She and her high school sweetheart, Bob, both were students at OCC during the time I was there, and now they are happily married (almost 13 years, which is the same amount of years as my husband and me! :) The ironic thing is now they both serve in full time ministry at First Christian Church in Brazil, IN...which just happens to be my homechurch. Bob is the preaching minister there. So when my family can make it back to Brazil for a visit or a holiday with my family, we get to visit with Bob and Lisa for a short time. We have reconnected a little bit more in that way, which is pretty cool.

I know Lisa is passionate about ministry, which is just one reason why I asked her to be a part of this. I hope you are as blessed and encouraged to read what's on her mind and heart as I was when I read it. Lisa, thank you. I heard you were nervous about being in such company of writers such as Pat Merold and Cindy Dagnan. Here's the cool thing...we were not created the same. We are all different with many different talents, gifts, and interests. Just like they (and other contributors to this blog) have written in their own unique way, so have you. I have been blessed and challenged by each one, yours included. I appreciate the creativity you have brought to this. I also appreciate the kind of Godly examples you and Bob are to your boys...it is evident in your writing. We can learn a lot from our kids, can't we? ;)

Name: Lisa Witte
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Married to: Bob Witte
Family: 2 cute sons...Joshua and Caleb
Current Living: Brazil, IN
Hobbies: travel, spending time with my boys and friends, eating out, playing games (that I can win), puzzles, facebooking, watching tv, exercising


And now, wisdom from Lisa...


"For the past few weeks I’ve been pondering about goodness, the sixth Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians. When Jennifer asked me to be one of her contributors for her blog I was very excited and started thinking of all the different angles I could take with each fruit and what examples I could share. Then she sends out an email that states I’ve been randomly selected for the fruit of goodness….goodness. My first thought is “What?! Goodness?! You’ve got to be kidding me! I didn’t have even ONE angle for goodness!!”

How do you even define goodness? In today’s world we use the word good to mean so many different things.


Oh my goodness gracious!!!

Now be a good boy!

This chocolate fudge cake is soooo good!

That was a pretty good movie.

How are you doing? Good.

Give the cake batter a good mixing.

Of course exercise is good for you!

It was so good of you to call!

I hope you brought home good grades this semester.

Are the leftovers still good or do we need to throw them out?

Could you please give me a good reason why you are late?

Good grief!

God is good.


When using the word good we usually mean it’s better than OK, but not quite as superior as excellent. There’s always room for improvement. But if that’s the case, then why does the Bible say God is good? No way can God improve. Obviously our definition of good and God’s definition are far different.

In Galatians the Greek word for goodness is agathosune which means uprightness of heart and life. Webster’s dictionary defines upright as “marked by a strong moral rectitude or integrity”. This makes much more sense as to why the Bible describes God as good. God’s nature exudes goodness. He is just, honorable, righteous and truthful.

But since God is good he is aggressive in his goodness, meaning that he disciplines us because we lack goodness. It is only possible to achieve goodness through the Holy Spirit. It goes back to the age old question as to whether man is inherently good or bad. The Bible uses the terms human nature and sinful nature synonymously. It is in man’s nature to sin. But Galatians 5:22 gives us hope that by possessing the Holy Spirit we too can be characterized by God’s fruitful nature.

Knowing the Holy Spirit instills goodness in me, how is that revealed in my life? I’ve been struggling to come up with a personal example. I was discussing this with my husband, there are so many times when I can stand up for what is “good” in the “real” world, but sadly in my Christian bubble I tend to take a backseat and not voice God’s truth and discipline when I see it needs to be heard. I holdback my words, not only because I’m quiet natured and shy (those that know me well, quit laughing!) but being a pastor’s wife, I know what I say has the possibility to reflect on my husband’s position. It’s ridiculous, I know! Of all people I should be one that displays goodness and protects the church from sin. But I’ve also seen too many times when one person’s good intentions and righteousness can be construed as something totally different. I have much to learn, I tell my children all the time that you can only control you, not anyone else...I need to take my own advice, huh?

Just last night, my oldest son, Josh, gave me a glimpse of what goodness is. He was invited to go see a movie with some friends. My husband and I try to monitor what movies would be appropriate for our children. We take advantage of Focus on the Family’s website, www.pluggedin.com, it gives a detailed rundown of content (language, sexual, violence, spiritual, etc.) that is in a movie. We looked up this show and I saw there was some language in it. Josh is getting older and I realize that he will be exposed more and more to these types of things, so my husband and I decided that we’ll let him go. I told him he was allowed to go, but gave him a motherly pep talk, that just because he hears bad words in a movie doesn’t mean he should say them. I also told him if there is something onscreen that is inappropriate to close his eyes. I thought giving him some tips now would help when he is faced with these situations in the future. He was excited and went on with his day. After dinner, I was in my office and Josh comes in to tell me that he’s decided he doesn’t want to see the movie now. I notice his face was red and tears were welling up in his eyes.

I asked, “Why don’t you want to see the movie now?”

“I don’t like to hear people say bad words", he answered.

At this point the tears were ready to spill over. I tried to reason with him, “Josh, you’ve seen other movies that people said bad words.”

Josh said, “Yes, but I didn’t know they were going to say them before watching the movie.”

I was trying to understand, “Why don’t you like to hear those words?” Duh…I don’t like to hear people talk like that either! He just shrugged his shoulders. “Is it you don’t like the way it makes you feel inside?”

Tears streaming down his face, he shook his head yes. All this from a 10 yr. old boy! What integrity he has! I could feel God’s goodness radiating from him! I could only guess that he was crying because he was torn between being with his friends at the movies and letting the Holy Spirit guide him to goodness.

I never thought I would envy something my child has. Making those decisions are hard and how often do we tend to close our eyes to sin, then to avoid it all together. Not only is goodness used to rebuke others, but it is used to discipline ourselves. I think we need to listen a little more closely and act upon the fruit the Holy Spirit adorns us with.

God is Good!"