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"Provision viewed from God’s perspective is the only way a victor can expect to see God’s goodness when the good things of this life seem to elude them."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 94.
What's does it look like when it comes to God being good. I have lived in a place for way too long where His goodness has to look like the kinds of good things I want for my life. Victim thinking has been in control for large portions of my life because I have found God's goodness couldn't be trusted as I failed to get what I wanted from this life.
Victor living only happens when we can see God's goodness from His perspective. Our circumstances can never be enough to prove that God is a good God. We were not created to have a good life. We were created to relate to a good God. Mixing together God's goodness with what we know to be good in our lives is a recipe for disaster.
I'm not saying that God has destined for us to live out a bleak existence. What I am saying is that this world will do things to us that will make it hard to believe God's goodness can be trusted. Even one bad thing in a string of good experiences can get us to doubt that God can be trusted. That's exactly what Satan wants us to believe. He will use the things of this world to help with that strategy.
The Bible is filled with verses that extol the goodness of God. Here's one such example.
You are good and do only good;
teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:68 (NLT)
This verse promises that all God does is good. Nothing bad can come from Him. Why, then, is there so much badness in this world? Satan controls this world. He is using the bad things of this world to get us to doubt God is good. This is his "go-to" play when it comes to fighting God's goodness. When we doubt God is good, victim thinking is so easy to take over. When we are controlled by victim thinking it is so easy to be part of the badness that this world makes happen in the lives of those around us.
Here are some other promises and characteristics of God's Love from the Bible.
1 Timothy 4:4 says, that everything from God is good.
Psalm 145:9 says God is good to everyone.
Psalm 107:1 shows us that God's goodness lasts forever.
Genesis 1:31 indicates that everything God made is good.
Psalm 34:8 makes it clear that we are impacted by God's goodness.
Romans 8:28 promises that God's goodness can come from all circumstances we face.
2 Peter 1:3 states that because of God's goodness, we have everything we need to live a godly life.
That's a pretty compelling list of attributes and characteristics of God's goodness. The goodness of God goes a long way in the life of a victor. Can you start to see why Satan works so hard to try and get us to doubt God is good? If he can get us to think that God's goodness isn't for us, so much of the power promised by God for our lives goes out the window.
It is when we believe in and act from the power of God's goodness that we can be a part of change in this world. Change happens in our lives and in the lives of those we come into contact with when goodness from God is the foundation of our identity. When we attempt to make our identity all about goodness that we generate on our own, that trouble starts. The victimizing ways of victim thinkers empower Satan's attempts at getting people to doubt God's goodness when we look to our own good as proof that we are decent people.
Matthew 19:16-17 is another set of verses that define God's goodness. In these verses we learn that no one other than God is good. You aren't good. Your pastor isn't good. Your teachers aren't good. Your most trusted friend isn't good. If all that isn't shocking enough, it is Jesus Himself making this claim. Jesus is actually saying that compared to the Father, even He isn't good.
Jesus wasn't saying this to get us depressed about life in this world. He made this claim to highlight that only God's goodness can be trusted. Any goodness we might be a part of making happen isn't good at all if it isn't tied to what God is doing in your life.
That's why the argument made by so many people about a relationship with God based on their goodness just doesn't hold water. It is borderline foolish to make the claim that if my good deeds outweigh my bad ones I will make it into heaven. If only God is good, how can I hope for an eternal future if what I think is good doesn't even rise to the level of being worth considering according to our reading today?
God is a good God. You are the sign of that goodness operating in this world. Any good you are a part of is empowered by the fact that His goodness is all we can trust. Your victor status is based on His goodness. You are a victor because of the goodness of God, not how much victory you will experience in what you will do.
Let the goodness of God be your foundation. Let that goodness be seen in all you do. Believe that God's goodness is for you even when the world looks to be falling apart all around you. You are good because God's goodness lives in you. Let God shine through all you do that might be considered good in your life today.
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