The fruit of the Spirit . . . Goodness

Agathosune (a-ga-thoo-sune-ay), beneficence, as used here referred to as goodness, but the English word includes several pleasing qualities whereas the Greek refers to one particular quality. There is more activity in agathosune than chrastotais. Agathosune does not spare sharpness and rebuke to cause good in others.* Not quite what I expected to find when I came to this word, but there it is. The fact is, there is a trap that many of us fall into as ministers, we somehow come to believe that all that we say has to be pleasing to the hearer. After all, if you don't please the audience, who will listen? This seems logical, but the idea is inherently flawed.

It is worse than telling them nothing at all. You see, the flaw is that you lull people to sleep, when you need to be waking them to the fact that sin is plaguing their live, and destroying them from the inside out. In our supposed kindness, we do more harm than good. Nobody quiets an alarm by wrapping it in blankets, so that when it goes off it is more pleasant to the ears. It is an alarm! It is supposed to hurt your ears, so that you know that you are in danger. That's why firehouses have clanging bells and not chimes; it is an alarm calling them to take action.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Being sharp and rebuking a friend or loved one isn't an easy thing to do. And, it doesn't follow that there needs to be a raising of voices, but there must be a clear presenting of the truth. Because when you present the truth to someone that they are living in sin, they then have the option of repenting from their sin. But if you applaud them for missing the mark, what good have you done them?

This isn't just for ministers, mind you. It is for all of the household of faith. If we need to rebuke, then we need to; and we are doing no good by sitting on our hands and hoping that things will work themselves out. The Bible tells us that if your brother offends you, then go to him and get things right. If our brother offends us, and we don't go to him at all, it frankly says that we don't care. You see, the fact that we go to that brother with words that are neither easy to say or to hear, is the proof that we do care. We say hard things out of love, so that the ones we love can have a closer relationship with God and with us.

* Taken from "The Complete Word Study Dictionary."