Hi all! I usually post on Sunday night so ya'll will have a fresh blog post to set you up for the week. However, I've been so sick I'm just now getting around to posting. I've actually not been in my classroom to teach one day this week. And tonight and tomorrow are PT conferences!! AHHHH. I'm having to reschedule. So if you think about it, say a prayer for me!!
We are in the 6th week of our delve into the fruit of the Spirit. So far we have talked about love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. Today we are going to talk about goodness. I think goodness is one part of the fruit of the Spirit that we have a little trouble wrapping our minds around. The definition of goodness seems a little obscure. Maybe because its meaning isn't as cut and dry as joy or patience. Or maybe it's because we use the word "good" so flippantly in our vocabulary to describe so many things.
Goodness Defined
So how DO we describe goodness? Merriam-Webster uses the word "character" as a synonym to goodness. This led me to begin thinking on God's character. Everything you can think of about God is good. Because goodness is the very essence of who God is. There is no evil in Him. Only good.
Not only is God good but he has created everything to reflect His goodness. As He created it He called it "good". As God's crown of creation, He created man to reflect His goodness as well. We were made in God's image to carry on His goodness in the world.
Enter sin - the reason "goodness" is so hard for us to define. The evil that was ushered into humanity by Satan has waged war with the good God placed in us. Because of sin we struggle with the fact that God is only good. We hesitate to believe that God is not withholding good from us. We even confuse evil with good and good with evil.
Let's get simple
I think the best way to explain goodness is to compare it to its opposite, evil. Goodness, isn't just the absence of evil because that would just be indifference. Neither good nor evil. True goodness means we are living our life for Christ because we want to thank Him for all that He’s done and bless those around us. As God made us in His image and lives in our hearts, when we love others in our actions or words, we spread His goodness.Simply put, goodness is a commitment to consistently choose right over wrong.
Matthew 5:16 says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." We are good because it glorifies God.
Promoting Goodness in Our Classrooms
We do this everyday ya'll! It's the whole point of our classroom behavior systems. You may not be able to directly tell your students to be good for the glory of God but you can reflect God's goodness in your character and in the ways you teach.
Linda Kardamis, founder of Teach 4 the Heart, gives 10 ways we can model Christ and his goodness in our classrooms. Here they are:
"1. Love our students. God is love and if we want to show Him to our students, we must also love them - all of them.
2. Be kind and understanding. When we're mean or grumpy, we turn students off and are a poor model of the Savior we serve. We must be kind and understanding of our students' struggles.
3. Care more about our students than our policies. Too often we get so entrenched in our policies that we miss the point - that we're here to help our students grow. Sometimes a student needs some mercy. Sometimes we shouldn't be fair. Sometimes what's best for a student doesn't line up perfectly with our plan. In these cases, we must pray for wisdom and remember that the growth and maturity of our students is our main goal.
4. Have high expectations and hold students to them. Caring more about our students than our policies in no case means we should start letting everything go. On the contrary, we must have high expectations and hold students to them. If we are pushovers or wishy-washy, we are a poor example of Christ's authority and leadership.
5. Value integrity. Model integrity in your own life and expect it of your students. Teach them what it looks like, and put forth the effort to help them develop it.
6. Counsel students; don't just hand out punishments. Sometimes it's much easier to just hand out a detention slip and be done with it. But if this is all we ever do, we're not going to make much of an impact on our students. We need to take the time to counsel them....Be approachable and show them that your're there to help them grow.
7. Let His truths permeate your conversations and lessons. God's truths should be such a part of us that we can't help but speak them in our daily conversations and in our lessons. And lest those of you in public schools think this doesn't apply to you, realize that God's truths are universal. Our students need to hear them, even if they can't be told straight out that they come from the Bible.
8. Model Christlike living. Our lives should portray Christ, and our conduct should be an example.....Out lives should be marked by integrity and purity. We would never want our sin to be a stumbling block for our students.
9. Be humble. Servant leadership is a powerful example of Christ and will draw students to Him. When we can set aside our pride, admit our mistakes, and not be easily offended, our student swill see a very real difference.
10. Be real. Students can sense hypocrisy a mile away, and it will turn them off faster than anything. We are not perfect. And we don't always have it all together. When we're authentic about our own struggles, we show them that our faith is real and model how God can work in us to change us and mold us into His image."
Have a great rest of the week friends! Go forth and be GOOD!
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