goodness!

i had a discussion with a friend recently, and i have to admit that i gave him a very poor answer. actually, i was just inconsistent.

you see, i was trying to explain that the goodness that he sees in me comes from God living in me. i was unwilling to take any credit for my character and the positive things he sees in me. and then he reminded me of the fact that i'd just told him that he is a good person too. so why am i unwilling to take any credit for being who i am, all the while attributing goodness to others? and how do i explain to him my whole worldview on the fallennes of mankind & yet the goodness that remains because we are made in the image of God?

because it gets very complicated. if i really believe that "but for the grace of God, that would be me" - i could be hitler, or a murderer, or just a bitter person with lots to complain about - how do i explain why God's grace has been applied so in my life, so that i didn't turn out to be hitler, or a murderer or a bitter person?

could it be that i actually made choices that brought me to this point? could my friend be correct in that i ought to take some credit for where i am, because i have chosen to some degree to be here? i am really uncomfortable with that thought, but that is probably because of the church tradition in which i was brought up.

but the truth is, now i see that there is much more an interplay between God's choices & mine. God seeks out his people, he pursues them, chooses them, sanctifies & redeems them. but each of us also has choices. and whereas growing up i would have given you a straight answer on how these things interplayed, now i cannot, for i do not know or understand how God's choices & my choices intermingle to bring me where i am today.

surely God has chosen me. just as surely, i have chosen him. he chose me first. he enabled my heart to be soft and my mind to be open to him. he has changed me from the inside out and continues to make me more like him. and yet - i too have made choices. i was also praying that he would change me & make me like him. i was the one to walk the (at times) difficult road of obedience to become more like him. i daily must choose to surrender my will to him & choose to follow.

and so my friend, you are right - my answer to you was inconsistent. to some extent, my choices have made me who i am. but i must honestly tell you that it is God who enabled me to make those choices. and any goodness within me is there because i am made in God's image - made to relfect him.

and goodness is found in every person, i believe, because God made mankind in his image, and each of us have that fingerprint of God in our lives. each of us to some extent reflects the character and attributes of God, who is good. So even those who do not choose to follow him still reflect a bit of him - and his goodness, just by virtue of being human. it is the nature of humanity to reflect the goodness of God, just as it is the nature of the painting to reflect the character and personality of the painter.