Goodness is not a feeling you extend when conditions are favorable. It is the nature of God, and if God lives in you, it is your nature too.

This teaching works through the third expression of grace in the "I Do" series, focusing on what "good" actually means inside a marriage or relationship. The argument is precise: good is not defined by how you feel toward your partner, but by what God has intended for them. Because God's goodness flows from his nature and not from human behavior, the goodness a son brings into relationship cannot be conditional on a partner's performance or perfection. The teaching then surfaces a diagnostic question: does the person you love feel liked by you? That feeling of being liked is the evidence of goodness received, and where it is absent, goodness itself is absent. Love is named here not as a feeling but as an elected decision, a choice to confer continual commitment and contentment on the one you have enthroned in your heart. If love requires perfection before it is shown, there is no room for grace, and therefore no room for goodness.

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 5:45, Proverbs 18:22, Genesis 2:22

SERIES: Ten Expressions of Grace. A series on how the nature of grace shapes and governs covenant relationships, beginning with marriage.

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Midweek teaching on The Word on Wednesday: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ZZ4O2QgtNKXASp3tsb12x