The next fruit of the Spirit is goodness. In every story the good guy wins. Everyone has a deep, inner desire that the side of good will win. Goodness rates high on any scale. Even when love, which is God’s essence, is misused, goodness remains. Love can easily be perverted into disguised lust and selfish pleasure. Goodness, on the other hand, remains pure. Even though people do not really know what goodness is, from where it comes and to where it leads, they still value it highly.

No one, apart from someone really perverse, wants to be evil. We love, seek and long for goodness. Goodness is precious and chivalrous. Goodness is fair and lifts people higher. Goodness is totally opposite that which is low and dirty. To many, goodness is something only the fairy-tale knights possess, something irrelevant in today’s sordid reality. Sometimes good or credulous people are considered somewhat dense. But it is really the opposite. Cynical scheming and coldness are foolishness. Goodness is connected to eternal wisdom and reaps where no one else harvests. It focuses on that which is lovely and gives hope to others.

Like heartwood, goodness is a quality that is incorruptible, upright and sound to the core. It is generous and considerate. It always makes room for yet another. The poor, the crushed and those who are considered different feel welcome and at home in an atmosphere of goodness. The needy receive help and the stressed find peace. Goodness sees beyond old grudges and does not bring up past offences. Therefore, goodness is always victorious over evil. In a dark and selfish world, it shines like a bright beacon, proclaiming hope because God, who is good, exists.