Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Think it is enough to just be a morally good person?

Jesus is different. And I mean really different.

He spoke the truth, in and out of season. He healed and continues to heal today. Heck, He even rose from the dead!

Doesn’t His example show us that it’s not enough to just be a good person? To perform acts of kindness? To be an honest worker? To hold doors and smile at people?

While all of those things are good, the truthful answer is no; they are not enough. 

Jesus wasn’t just a nice guy. He didn’t just go with the flow. 

Jesus called people out and invited them into greatness. The Lamb of God lived sacrificially and gave of Himself freely and generously.   

To simply be a good person is not enough. Jesus invites us into more than being good; He invites us into a life of transformation and redemption. Ultimately, Jesus invites us to become perfect. 

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).  

The life of a Christian is one marked by a constant conformity to the Way, the Truth and the Life. We must daily practice surrendering our lives to His provision so that He can mould us as He wishes. 

This begins every day with prayer. I can only become good and do good as much as I spend time with the ultimate Good. I absorb His rays and His love so that I can share it with others. 

The world does not just need more good people. It needs those living on purpose who are committed to sharing the goodness of God with others.

More than abiding by moral laws and doing good deeds, the Christian lives their life for the Lord. This means Jesus becomes Lord of everything. 

Jesus invites each of us into a life of perfection. However, perfection does not come from us, it comes from God. We cannot be good, nor can we be perfect on our own.  

“And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). 

Allowing the Lord to refine and sharpen us so as to make us perfect is a tough task! And it certainly won’t always feel good! But we can be confident that surrendering to the Lord is the greatest of all things and makes growing in perfection possible.

Ultimately, to be good and to do good is predicated upon our surrender to God. May we surrender to the work of God in our lives so that He can make us good and give us the grace and strength to accomplish the work He has created us for. 

Patrick is a beloved son of the Father who desires to use his gifts to build up the Kingdom of God. You can read more of his writing on his blog.