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Be The Goodness

Be The Goodness

Last updated on: November 3, 2016 at 4:17 pm by John O'Keefe

Be The Goodness 2016-11-03T16:17:30-05:00 John O'Keefe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As I look around my world, I see the evil that surrounds us. I see the anger so many people hold towards those they disagree with; I see the hurt they feel from others; I see the life pains which cause them to close off to the world around them; I see the insults that crush the spirits of many; I see the marginalization that push people to the sidelines of life. In my heart, I feel the pain, the hurts, the insults, the marginalization of others. I believe we need to be better. We should not address anger with anger; we should not address hurt with hurt; we should not address pain with pain; we should not address insults with insults; we should not address our feelings of being marginalized by marginalizing others. We should address anger, pains, hurts, insults, and marginalization with goodness. We should be the expression of goodness; we should be the voice of goodness. Our lives should a model of doing good. You may be the only goodness people see, or experience.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.” [Romans 12:21]

In a world of anger, hurt, pain, insults, marginalization you might be the only goodness people see – be the goodness. Just like in Paul’s day, when we act in kindness, goodness, we surprise people. When we replace evil with good, people are surprised. Our acts of goodness out weight any evil in the lives of others.

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