How Do You See Your Good?

What do you think of yourself when you do something good? What makes it good? How should we evaluate our own good efforts?

It doesn’t sound like a deep question, but it really is. It digs beneath the surface and gets into our heart, our motives, our intentions, the why behind what we do.

To be honest, I don’t think about this much until I read something like Deuteronomy 9:6. And if I’m really honest? I tend to think I’m a pretty good guy. I think I do good.

But if you want the truth, a lot of my good is because I should do it, not because I want to do it. Or I’m looking for some kind of reward, some kind of blessing from God.

Sometimes we give love to get love. That’s just true.

So the question becomes a little more uncomfortable, why do we really do good things?

Because Scripture doesn’t evaluate our goodness the way we do. It says, “All of us have become like someone who is unclean, and all the good things we do are like filthy rags. All of us are like leaves that have dried up, and our sins carry us away like the wind.” — Isaiah 64:6 (NCV).

That means even our best efforts, our most sincere attempts to do right, are still mixed. On our best days, our good efforts are still tainted with selfishness. To be honest, I see this in me.

God addressed this directly through Moses when He said, “The Lord your God is giving you this good land to take as your own. But know this: It is not because you are good; you are a stubborn people.” — Deuteronomy 9:6 (NCV).

That word “stubborn” means stiff-necked, resistant, self-directed, slow to fully surrender. In other words, they were doing some things right, but their hearts weren’t fully aligned.

Now pause for a second and think about who we’re dealing with. God’s holiness isn’t just that He’s better than us, it’s that He’s completely free from evil.

He has no mixed motives. No hidden agenda. No selfishness. He doesn’t do good to gain something. He does good because He is good. God is love. Not just loving, He is love. Stop and think about that. He is actual good.

And we’re created in His image. Which means something we don’t always recognize, we would be a complete mess without Him.

The reason we have any sense of right and wrong, any compassion, any pull toward doing good, is because of Him. He gives us our moral compass. He gives us the ability to feel the pain of others. He gives us the capacity to love at all.

Left to myself, I wouldn’t just drift, I’d be a mess. I need more of Him, not less. I find myself praying for that more and more. So, what do you think of yourself?

And then there’s this thought we’ve all had, especially when we were younger: “That’s not fair.” I’ve said it. You probably have too. We’ve measured life through fairness.

But in God’s eyes, we’re not asking for fair. Because fair would mean we get exactly what we deserve. And if we’re honest, based on Isaiah 64:6, that wouldn’t go well for any of us.

We don’t deserve grace. We can’t earn it. God gives because He’s the giver. That’s it.

Not because we reached a level, not because we cleaned ourselves up enough, but because that’s who He is. And that’s a humbling place to stand, to really think about it, to receive it, and then to actually enjoy it.

We don’t deserve Jesus Christ. I don’t. You don’t. We can’t earn His grace, His death, or His forgiveness over our sins. And think about what that means - all our sins, past, present, and even future ones, fully known and still forgiven through Him.

So what does that do to us? Does it actually affect us? Because it should.

It should humble us deeply. It should remove pride. It should soften our hearts. It should create a level of gratitude that doesn’t come and go with circumstances. And it should move us toward surrender, not to earn something, but because we’ve already been given everything.

So go back to the question. What do you think of yourself when you do something good?

If it leads to pride, we’re seeing it wrong. If it leads to humility and gratitude, we’re starting to see it clearly. Because our effort matters, but it’s not the foundation.

Our lives rest on His goodness. And His holiness, His complete absence of evil, is the only reason flawed people like us can receive anything good at all.

So, if you are doing something good today or tomorrow, if you are giving, sharing, helping, loving, forgiving - whatever good you are doing, maybe today is a good time to ask yourself an honest question. Why am I doing this.

And it’s always a good time to thank God for His truthful words that cause us to stop - and be humble.

God, You really do know us. You created us. Of course You know us. I’m thankful that I was created in Your image, yet I strongly desire my way, not Yours. I’m working on me. I’m a human-being in process. I pray that You give me purity, real love, and good motives to love the way I should. Help me help, be kind, and serve out of love, not for reward.

Holy Spirit, help me think about this often. Help me evaluate my motives routinely. Help me not judge the motives of others. Just help me enjoy the moment, enjoy the people in my life, and love them with honest motives. IJNIP, amen. ♥️