Journey to Eternity Podcast

Sunsets, Spankings, and Sanctification: Yep, God’s Still Good

• Luisa and Mike Sirignano • Episode 56

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What if goodness isn’t a mood God slips in and out of, but the very essence of who He is? We dive into the unchanging goodness of God—how Scripture affirms it, how creation displays it, how discipline reveals it, and how the cross defines it. From Psalm 34:8 to James 1:17, we trace a throughline that holds steady when life doesn’t: God’s moral perfection, faithfulness, and mercy don’t waver with our circumstances.

We open up the layers of divine goodness beyond sentiment—justice, holiness, patience, and compassion—then connect them to the rhythms of everyday life. You’ll hear practical ways to experience God’s goodness through prayer, worship, and Scripture, and how to spot it in answered prayers, ordinary providence, and the beauty right outside your window. We also talk about the hard part: why discipline is part of God’s love, how remembering past mercies builds resilient hope, and why common grace reaches every person, believer or not.

As we walk through the ultimate expression of goodness in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice, we talk about response: internal (gratitude, humility, wonder) and external (obedience, serving others, sharing the gospel). Expect a clear, Scripture-rich conversation that grounds your heart and equips your hands. If this encouraged you, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show—and tell us: where have you seen God’s goodness this week?

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Mike:

Brothers and sisters, God did not send his son to die on a cross so we could wander aimlessly through life. He had a purpose for us: to do his work, submit to his will, and glorify his name. Join us on this journey, a journey to eternity. So welcome to the show. I'm Luisa. And I'm Mike, and this is episode 56 of the Journey to Eternity Podcast.

Luisa:

In every episode, we help Christians use God's word to navigate everyday life in a sinful, fallen world.

Mike:

So hey, babe, it's great to be back behind the microphone talking to our listeners about the word of God.

Luisa:

Yes, we thank God for the opportunity to do his work, and we thank our brothers and sisters in Christ for all of their support. And if you are new to this podcast, we welcome you as we look to glorify God and praise his name. Amen.

Mike:

Many of our episodes are practical and instructional, but in this one, we want to just explore one of God's attributes, his goodness. We hope that the content will give you a new perspective on who God is and deepen our appreciation of Him. But before we get started, let's pray.

Luisa:

Gracious Father, your word is like a lamp to our feet and food for our souls. Thank you once again for the opportunity to teach it through this podcast. We thank you for your goodness. Please help everyone who listens to this episode see and understand it. Help us all to never take this gift for granted. Please lead us today and have your way in us and through us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Mike:

So let's get right into it. Today, we will break down God's goodness into several areas. It's good for us to know exactly what we mean by God's goodness. And second, we'll list the key aspects of God's goodness.

Luisa:

Third, we'll look at some examples and manifestations of God's goodness.

Mike:

And finally, we will look at what our response as believers should be. First, what is God's goodness? Well, I'll start off with a story from my Catholic school days. Going way back to first grade, there was a huge sign hanging on the stage in the confraternity center. In big bold letters, it loudly proclaimed, God is good. Now to my six-year-old mind, I had no idea what that meant. And I'll be honest, I can't recall if they ever really explained it. So yeah, we had religion class, but the spankings that we got from the nuns hardly gave us any hope that God was in fact good. So by the time I got out of there at age 14, I was about as far away from God as I could possibly be. And I remained that way until God woke me up at age 53. Now, never once during that span did I consider him to be anything good. So fast forward to today, at age 66, God has finally made it clear to me what I had been ignoring all of those years, that he is good.

Luisa:

So let's define God's goodness. Classical Christian theology defines God's goodness as an essential part of his being.

Mike:

Yeah, it's not something that God just decided to be. God always was that.

Luisa:

And will continue to be that.

Mike:

Always. So he was good from all of eternity past, he's good now, and he's gonna be good for all of eternity future.

Luisa:

And this concept is constantly affirmed throughout the Bible. Psalms 34 8 declares Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Mike:

Amen. God's goodness refers to his inherent, perfect, and unchangeable moral character. When we say he's good, that means he's always good. So he could never be bad, he could never be something else, he never varies.

Luisa:

And I think that most times Christians think that God is like us. You know how sometimes we think we're good, right, and then sometimes we know we're not.

Mike:

Right. God doesn't have any of that in him. None.

Luisa:

Okay, so therefore, if he is good and cannot change, he is always good.

Mike:

So no matter what our circumstance is, he is good. Right.

Luisa:

When something good happens to us, we say God is good. But what about when something bad happens?

Mike:

What do we say?

Luisa:

God is still good. Oh no, God, we never say, I mean, unfortunately, we really never say when bad things happen in our life, like the goodness of God doesn't come to our mind. Right, but it doesn't.

Mike:

So let's really look at this for a minute. How many times do people curse God? How many people when something goes on in their life when they get sick or some something goes on? Right. They never say, oh, God is good even though I have a broken arm now, or God is good even though I got into a car accident.

Luisa:

Or God is good even though I lost my job.

Mike:

Right. Yeah. So there's a lot of things that can go on in our lives, and God is still always good. Why? Because he's unchangeable.

Luisa:

And I think that's what we should really think, but we don't.

Mike:

Right. So I guess when the nuns were spanking us in Catholic school, God was good. I don't think so.

Luisa:

Again, that was your experience. It was a harsh time. Right. In your mind, because that incident was happening to you, God got the bad end of the state.

Mike:

God is not good. It was the nuns.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

So now, because God is good, he is void of any evil or sin. So that that kind of leads into it. So when something bad happens, we think that God is evil.

Luisa:

Yeah.

Mike:

But he's not. Right. He's always good.

Luisa:

Psalms 92, 15 states, The Lord is upright, he is my rock, and there is no wickedness in him.

Mike:

This verse emphasizes God's perfect righteousness, his faithfulness and stability, and his complete absence of evil and injustice.

Luisa:

And this is another confirmation of his perfect moral character.

Mike:

The verse says he is just and fair. So when it says the Lord is upright, we're saying that no matter what happens, whether it's good or bad for you, he's just and fair. Right. And also says, Here's my rock. So what is a rock? A rock is solid, a rock is strong. In good times and bad, he is always a source of safety. And since there is no wickedness in him, it declares absolute moral perfection, saying there is no evil in him at all.

Luisa:

Another blessing is that God communicates his goodness through his blessings towards creation.

Mike:

James chapter 1, verse 17 showers us with goodness. It says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Luisa:

Those gifts of goodness include compassion, love, and mercy towards his creation. And that's us.

Mike:

And if you look again at that verse, it says, There is no variation or shadow due to change. Again, it goes back to what the Bible said before about him being unchangeable. So when people think that God is one way today because he woke up in a good mood and he's one way tomorrow because it's a bad mood. Well, there's nothing that says that that's true.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

So one of the things that it also includes is the beauty of the world. People don't look at creation as part of God's goodness, but all you have to do is look out your window some days. It's just a benevolent act of goodness. Things like the sunset. How many times do we stop and we look at a sunset?

Luisa:

How many times do I stop and take pictures of a sunset?

Mike:

We'll be driving down the block and I'll stop, Mike. Stop. I gotta take a picture of this. I gotta take a picture. This is God's beauty.

Luisa:

Yeah, but understanding, though, that I'm worshiping the creator, not the created.

Mike:

So it's really God's goodness. It's not the sunset that we're looking at as good.

Luisa:

It's God's creation. It's like, oh, look at this. Or the trees or the flowers or the ocean. We go to the beach and I sit by the water, and what I'm saying to you, I'm just really soaking in God's creation in this ocean.

Mike:

It's just so beautiful. And then we always have to remember that his ultimate act of goodness, Jesus Christ, who represented perfect goodness in human form, something the world has never seen and will not see again until he returns. So I look at that and it says, He represented perfect goodness in human form. Now, there has not been any perfect human form ever except for Jesus Christ. So us as humans, we could never represent perfection.

Luisa:

Even though many think that they are perfect. Okay, but we're not perfect. Absolutely not. Never.

Mike:

That was God's ultimate act of goodness.

Luisa:

Yeah.

Mike:

Now let's look at some key aspects of God's goodness. His goodness is not dependent on his actions, but is a perfect part of his very being. He's the ultimate standard of good, and he does not need his creation to be good. Say that part again. He is the ultimate standard of good, but he does not need his creation to be good. Amen. So God is good no matter what.

Luisa:

No matter how bad we are, God is good.

Mike:

He's not dependent on us. Yeah. So we are dependent on a lot of things to be good. God is not dependent on anything to be good, he just is good. And we're going to say this over and over again because it's sometimes it's a hard point to grasp that he just is. And it goes for all of his attributes. Right. They're never changing. So whatever he is today is what he was yesterday, and it's what he's going to be tomorrow and for the rest of eternity.

Luisa:

Right. And we should never get it confused that anything we do will affect how good he is.

Mike:

Amen.

Luisa:

One aspect is how God expresses kindness and love towards his people.

Mike:

And that means all people, not just Christians. No matter what it is that we do, God is good to us in some way, shape, or form. It's just that we don't ever see that. And it's the generosity that moves him to bring joy and blessing to all his creatures. God is a generous God. And this aspect of goodness is often shown in his grace and mercy. Right. So grace is giving us gifts that we do not deserve. Right. And mercy is not giving us the punishment that we do deserve. Yikes. So if you really think about that, everything that God gives us, he just gives it to us out of love.

Luisa:

Because of his goodness.

Mike:

Right. We don't deserve it. We don't deserve anything. And mercy is when we sin, he doesn't just zap us right there on the spot and end it all. So he's kind, he's patient with us, and he gives us that mercy that we do. Now deserve it.

Luisa:

Right. So in Lamentations chapter 3, verses 22 to 23, the Stephast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.

Mike:

Amen. Now another aspect of his goodness is evident in the natural world. He created the world that he deemed very good. That's in Genesis chapter 1, verse 31. He said it was very good. Right. And that comes out of who he is. So this quality is still displayed through the beauty and intricate details of nature.

Luisa:

Another aspect is that he is unwavering and faithful.

Mike:

God's goodness is unchanging, and his faithfulness ensures that he always keeps his promises. Whatever God says, if he said it, it's going to come to pass. And we always have to remember that he keeps every promise that he makes.

Luisa:

And we always have to remember that God's promises are yes and amen in Jesus Christ.

Mike:

Amen. So he is a dependable and constant force, providing a source of hope and security even during difficult times.

Luisa:

Right. So in Nahim chapter 1 and verse 7, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.

Mike:

Now here's an interesting aspect. While his goodness implies kindness, it also implies God's severity.

Luisa:

So this means that his discipline and judgment of sin are also an aspect of his ultimate goodness. And that's hard for people to fathom.

Mike:

Yeah, they don't understand that when God chastens us, when he disciplines us, he's doing it for our good. It's designed to lead people towards righteousness rather than indicating a lack of good nature.

Luisa:

Right. So this ensures that his goodness is not mistaken for weakness.

Mike:

Right. Hebrews chapter 12 and verses 10 to 11 reminds us but he disciplines us for our good, so that we may share his holiness. For the moment, all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Luisa:

Right. So, but the ultimate demonstration of God's goodness is his plan for redemption and salvation for humanity.

Mike:

Amen. So the ultimate expression of this is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Let's talk about that sacrifice. So it provides a path for people to be restored to a relationship with God. Before Christ came, we had no relationship with God. Right. No man on earth had any type of goodness in him. So when Christ came, he took on our sins, he bore it on the cross so that we could be in relationship with God. Right. So that we had no chance other than that because we were dead in our sins, and there was nothing we could do. There was no sacrifice there that could cleanse us of those sins. It was only the perfect sacrifice of Christ that could do that.

Luisa:

Right. And it provided a path for people to restore to a relationship with God. The Bible says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance. Amen. Second Peter 3 and verse 9 states the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Mike:

Amen. So we see how the Bible confirms that God is indeed good. Now let's talk about some examples of God's goodness and how it manifests in our lives.

Luisa:

So the best way to experience God's goodness is by seeking and trusting Him through practices like prayer, worship, and reading Scripture.

Mike:

Now, a lot of people look at prayer, worship, and reading Scripture not as a sign of God's goodness. No. But just having the desire to do that is a good idea.

Luisa:

Because I think a lot of people think is a duty. Right. People don't want to do that. They don't want to give anything up.

Mike:

Like their time. Yes, exactly.

Luisa:

I don't have time for this, but I'm going to make time, but I really don't want to do it.

Mike:

You really just want to watch TV.

Luisa:

Right.

unknown:

Okay.

Luisa:

So actively engage with God in prayer and praise to create an atmosphere where his presence can be felt and experienced.

Mike:

Right. You cannot experience God while you're watching television.

Luisa:

Yeah. You cannot experience God when you're on social media on your phone.

Mike:

No. So by praying, you automatically come into a relationship with God.

Luisa:

Right, because our private time with God is very important.

Mike:

Right. But corporate time is important too. You have to make it a habit of fellowship with other believers, both inside and outside of the church. So it's great you can come to church on Sunday, but there's fellowship. So you have brothers and sisters in Christ. Go have a meal with them. Go do an activity with them. Go over to somebody's house for like a prayer meeting or a Bible study. Bible study. Just start to interact with other believers. It's going to give you the experience of God's goodness and it's going to bring you into relationship with Him. These are all things that are very important.

Luisa:

And that's creating habits to do that. Okay.

Mike:

Reading and studying the Bible. And it's going to teach you about God's character, it's going to teach you about His plans for humanity and His constant goodness throughout history. The Bible is like, in a lot of ways, a history book. Yeah. And if you go back and you start in Genesis, you start to look at and read through these and really absorb what's being said, you're just going to see the goodness of God all the time.

Luisa:

You see the goodness of God from the beginning to the end. Yes.

Mike:

Yes. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament. They proclaim God's attributes. They talk about His goodness. They give you examples.

Luisa:

And you have to make it a point to look for His goodness in Scripture. Right.

Mike:

Because it's there. When you when you're reading, read with a purpose. Right. And you'll start to see that all of these things are in there. And they just, again, over and over proclaim God's.

Luisa:

And then you always have to, before you sit down and read God's word and his scripture, pray to God that God would open up your spiritual eyes to see the goodness, to see Jesus in it. You know, we have to always start with prayer.

Mike:

The bottom line is look for guidance and wisdom in God's written word and apply it to your life. Total dependence on God will manifest in his goodness.

Luisa:

Proverbs 3 and verses 5 through 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight.

Mike:

Amen. Now, another way to experience God's goodness is to observe his work. This is a really good one, and I get to experience this every day. I drive east to go to work, and usually it's pretty early in the morning, and most times I'm getting the sunrise directly in my face. But against the backdrop of the sky, it really is just it's just a beautiful painting. It's just awesome. So no matter where I am on the road, no matter what angle I'm coming from, there's a different painting every day, and it changes by the second. And that's the goodness of God. It's just there's so much natural evidence of God's goodness that to miss it means you're not paying attention. And I see people on the phone and they're passing by just such beautiful stuff and and they don't see it. It's one of the joys I get when I I do a lot of driving for work, is I can get out of the city and you just see some beautiful stuff.

Luisa:

Especially, you know, like in this season now. Yeah, in the fall, the leaves are gonna start falling now. Everything just changes so beautifully. The colors, you know, it's just ah.

Mike:

Yeah. So get off your phone and look up. Another way that uh we could observe his work is through answered prayers.

Luisa:

Right. Pay attention to how God answers your prayers and provides for your needs, seeing these are demonstrations of his faithfulness.

Mike:

Amen. So we have a frame on the wall in our prayer room, and it's just a list of all the ways that God has answered prayers. And right now, it's it's kind of old.

Luisa:

It's real. I have more.

Mike:

I think we need to get another one.

Luisa:

I have a lot of them that I want to put it. I was looking at the other day, and I'm like, okay, this is full to the brim of all the prayers that he has answered, and I need another one because there's so many more that he has answered.

Mike:

One of our friends got us that, and and we'll have to ask her where she got it so we can get the one that matches. Right. And and we have a lot to fill in there. And it's these are just demonstrations of his faithfulness. Right. And they're all demonstrations of his goodness. So, I mean, look at the common everyday blessings that we get. There's all these small everyday acts of kindness and support that we receive from God. And we kind of take them for granted. We we just kind of blow over them.

Luisa:

I mean, I think sometimes we're not even really present about it. Okay. We're just moving on in our lives, this busy world that we're in. And as believers, we really have to take some time to be still, okay? Because God is always talking. Right. He's always talking in so many ways.

Mike:

I was talking to a sister in church this morning, and she said that because we were talking about God's goodness. And she goes, like these small little things that go on, we we take them for granted, and we we don't see them. Right. And we have to really be grateful for them.

Luisa:

And we and when if we do recognize them, we don't really realize that it's the goodness of God. Okay, they're not just things happening to us. We have to look to our resource. Where does this come from? Right. All this goodness that I get in my life, it gives me an opportunity to just stop and worship and thank him, okay? Because he this is what he says in 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18. Rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.

Mike:

It's easy to do that when things are going well, but we also have to do it when the times are difficult, and that's where we kind of lose this.

Luisa:

So if we're not present when things are good, what makes you think we're going to be present when times are not? Because we're just going to be stuck in that in that space of things are not good right now, and I just start letting the spirit of fear or frustration or whatever comes in for us that we're not even present, that God is still good in our situations, in our trials, and I know that for a fact.

Mike:

For sure.

Luisa:

Okay, I can talk about that.

Mike:

Right. It's, I mean, it's called common grace. Yeah. Common grace is the undeserved universal goodness that God extends to all people, both believers and unbelievers, in his creation and through his providence. And it's not for salvation, it's just goodness just because right.

Luisa:

Psalms 145 and verse 9 talks about common grace. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. That means all creation.

Mike:

All creation and all people. We all get things every day that we don't deserve.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

And God is good because he doesn't look at us and say, oh, well, this guy is a believer, I'll do it for him, but this guy's an unbeliever, so I'm I'm gonna leave them out. He doesn't do that, he extends that grace to everyone that is in creation. So the last point we're gonna make here is how should we as Christians respond to God's goodness?

Luisa:

There are two ways for us to respond, and they are internal and external.

Mike:

Okay, let's look at internal first, and that has to do with our attitude and our mindset.

Luisa:

Yeah.

Mike:

Now, some of these things we have already covered, but they're worth repeating because, quite frankly, we don't do them enough.

Luisa:

Right, and that's giving thanks to God for his enduring love and constant provision is a foundational response.

Mike:

So remember, we are deserving of nothing, and God owes us nothing, including his goodness. Don't we talk about all the time we don't deserve anything?

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

And he doesn't owe us nothing. People go through this world and they think that God owes them that's the entitled mindset.

Luisa:

I am I'm entitled for everything good for me in my life, including God.

Mike:

The only thing God owes us is judgment.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

So it's really like if he were to just give us what he owes us, then we'd be in trouble. Right.

Luisa:

We won't even have the time to think that we deserve anything. Right.

Mike:

We we do not deserve anything from God, and he is not obligated to give it to us.

Luisa:

First Chronicles 1634 instructs us give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Mike:

Amen. Another attitude and mindset thing is walking in humility.

Luisa:

Oh, let's talk about that. Let's talk about recognizing that all we are and have comes from God and striving to walk humbly with him are crucial aspects of a response to his goodness.

Mike:

Right. So that comes again, tying into the first one and recognizing in a humble way that God does not owe us anything and that we don't deserve anything. So when we recognize that, then we can sit there and understand wow, God really is good to me because He I'm still here on earth breathing. Right.

Luisa:

He woke me up this morning. I'm breathing, I'm healthy, my children are healthy. Whatever it is that's going on for you and your family, always remember that it is God's goodness.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

Not just because.

Mike:

Let's look at the next one. It's called Remembering God's goodness. So we've all experienced God's goodness in some way, shape, or form. And we know what they are. So by meditating on God's past acts of love and goodness, it'll fuel hope and it'll inspire action, moving us to trust and act in new ways.

Luisa:

And that's so good, babe. If people will really remember the things that God has done for us and to us in the past, and we just remember that he's still doing that.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

Okay, he's always doing good in us.

Mike:

Think about all the stuff that he's taken us out of, all the stuff that we were not living in a correct way, and he's he's brought us out of that, and he's give us a new heart.

Luisa:

And we just think about our salvation. That alone is something that we have to think about and say, God, thank you for your goodness.

Mike:

There's always something that he's done. And the more we get present to God, the more these things will come up for us, and we'll be able to acknowledge them. And the last one, I just looked at it as wonder and delight. If you really think about it, God's never-ending love, it's just I I don't even have words to describe it. How can you not just be joyous about how God has been good to you all this time? And sometimes we just sit back and and ah God, you did this. It's just it's just mind-blowing.

Luisa:

How many times do you hear me doing that? Yeah, it's I mean out loud.

Mike:

It's really, it's really awe-inspiring.

Luisa:

Yeah.

Mike:

You know, Psalm 116, verse 12, it asks you a question. It says, What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? Yeah. I mean, you have to ask yourself, like, what can I do for you, God, for the for the gazillions of things that you've done? Well, we we really can't do anything for him, but like we could ask, like, Lord, uh we we can't even pay you back.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

So it it it's really crazy.

Luisa:

And this is a call to give thanks for God's benefits and recognize that while we cannot fully repay him, we can offer our love and devotion.

Mike:

Right. That's what we could do for him. Yes. When we just worship and praise him and obey. Be obedient, right?

Luisa:

Yes, yes, obedient to what his word tells us and to follow his commands. That's what God wants from us, okay? He wants us to walk in righteousness and holiness.

Mike:

Amen.

Luisa:

And we we don't even think about that because we just think that it's something that we can do.

Mike:

Right. And we can't do anything.

Luisa:

That's human nature mindset. Yeah.

Mike:

No. All right. So now for our external response. So, speaking of obedience, that's the first thing. We have to strive to obey God's will. It's a direct expression of love and response to his goodness. And how do you know what God's will is? You have to read and study your Bible. So if you really want to be obedient, you have to read and study your Bible. You have to know what God wants from you, what he expects from you, how he expects you to live. How he how he expects you to do it.

Luisa:

What God likes and what God doesn't like.

Mike:

It's not a secret. Right. Okay. I like if you're sitting there wondering, what should I do? Just be obedient to his word.

Luisa:

But you know how it is sometimes, babe, I talk to some woman, and a lot of women say to me, I don't know how to be a godly woman. Are you opening up your word? So God shows us how to walk in that.

Mike:

The Bible is is a big instruction book. Yes. So whatever you need to learn, the Bible will say it either directly or indirectly. Yes. And you have to do the work, you have to do the studying, you have to do it. You have to give up stuff. Yeah. So when you do that, that's when you're going to find out what God's will is. Right. That's when you're going to understand his commands. Right. And that's where the obedience comes in. Another way is to serve others, acting justly, showing mercy, and loving others as God has loved us through acts of kindness, generosity, and forgiveness. These are tangible ways to respond to his goodness, helping the poor, outreaches.

Luisa:

That's the love of God for people. When we go out and do those things, those are the things that God expects us to do.

Mike:

Like so many times our church will help out borough pregnancy. There's just certain programs that are out there that are designed to help people. Today, after the Lord's table, we've had a benevolence offering. So there are some people in the church that need some help. So by contributing to that, that's that's a way to help them. But it's responding with compassion. And that's what God does for us all the time. So he expects us to do that for our other believers and even for unbelievers, okay? He's not just restricting this just to brothers and sisters in church. So there's there's all kinds of ways to do that.

Luisa:

And the last one is sharing the gospel. Christians are called to share this good news with others.

Mike:

Amen. Think about God's goodness. He had somebody share the gospel with us. Right. All right. And if somebody didn't do that, we might not be sitting here at this table.

Luisa:

Right.

Mike:

I mean, the ultimate act of God's goodness is that Christ went to the cross uh to take away our sins. And by sharing that with other people, there's an opportunity for them to respond to it and to come to faith.

Luisa:

And it was so profound what Pastor Micah preached today that a lot of times us believers, we talk about all the heavy stuff and we forget about the good news.

Mike:

Right.

Luisa:

The good news that was that was so profound for me, and I was like, wow, oh God, please forget. And he expects us to share it. Yes, he does expect us to share it.

Mike:

It was so funny when he was talking. It wasn't funny, but it was it was really convicting when he said it means you have to talk. Right. He said actions are good, but they need some talk behind it.

Luisa:

People can't hear actions.

Mike:

Right. They can see it, but biblical times the gospel was shared. Everything was shared by word of mouth. Yeah. So people had to talk because they didn't have iPads and they didn't have Google and they didn't have things where they could look something up. They didn't have Bibles. Yeah. There was only one way that somebody heard the gospel, and that was by somebody proclaiming it to them. So God has in his mercy and goodness did that for us. He really expects us to do that for others.

Luisa:

That's a great reminder today.

Mike:

So Psalm 105, verses 1 and 2, it exhorts us. It says, give praise to the Lord and proclaim his name. Make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him. Sing praise to him. Tell of all his wonderful acts. Amen. Amen.

Luisa:

So in summary, let's recap what we have learned today.

Mike:

Right. So we're just going to kind of run through these. It's really like a list. Number one, God's goodness shows his inherent perfection.

Luisa:

Right. God is good by his very nature. Goodness is his fundamental aspect of his being, not a quality he acquires.

Mike:

Right. Remember, we said that he always was good. Right. He is good and he always will be good. Number two, God is the source of all goodness.

Luisa:

Everything that is good and every good gift originates from God.

Mike:

Amen. God's character is of moral excellence.

Luisa:

God's goodness includes the full spectrum of his moral uprightness, including his righteousness, justice, and holiness. God has a compassion nature.

Mike:

Right. He is tender-hearted, sympathetic, and inclined to bestow blessings and happiness upon his creatures. So people look at God and he is a tender father. All of his attributes contribute to who he is. And one of the most beautiful ones is the tenderness that he shows to us, the sympathetic nature, and he gives this all to us freely.

Luisa:

Right. And God is active in his provision and providence.

Mike:

Amen. God sustains and provides for his creation, giving good things and filling hungry souls.

Luisa:

Amen. God is eternal and unchanging. God's goodness is steadfast attribute, constant, regardless of circumstances and the foundation of his character. God shows us a redemptive love, baby.

Mike:

Amen. God's supreme expression of goodness is demonstrated through his sacrificial act of sending Jesus Christ to save humanity. Hallelujah. That's how we were saved. The whole thing is just so astonishing. Again, I'm so glad we did this topic today. It really gives us food for thought, makes us think about how good God is. It's just really amazing.

Luisa:

And we always have to remember that in our walk, no matter, again, like we talked about, no matter what we're going through, no matter our trials, no matter our frustrations, no matter our sicknesses, no matter anything that we go through, if we will always remember that God is good, that would just change their perspective and how we deal with what we're going through in life.

Mike:

Amen. So in conclusion, we can understand this about God's goodness.

Luisa:

While humans often understand good as simply being kind, God's goodness is a deeper, more profound concept of rooted in his perfect moral nature.

Mike:

And God's goodness involves all of his nature. It is not limited to his love and kindness, but also includes his holiness, justice, and righteousness.

Luisa:

Amen. And God's goodness provides a secure hope that he is always working for the betterment of those who love him, even in difficult times. Let's pray.

Mike:

Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. Jesus reminded us that nobody is good except God alone. So we ask you that you continue to build us up, to make us more like your son. We look forward to that day in glory when we will all be good and your work will be complete. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Luisa:

So that wraps up episode 56. We thank you for listening. We invite you to leave a comment or a question by going to our website at jtepodcast.org.

Mike:

That's JTE Podcast.org.

Luisa:

Click on the contact us page and we will respond within 24 hours. If you don't personally know us, introduce yourselves. We would love to get to know you from across the States or around the world.

Mike:

Now, while you're there, you can subscribe to the podcast and receive an email the minute a new episode is published. You can also find all of our previous episodes, and we invite you to find one that resonates with you. In addition, the Journey to Eternity Podcast can be accessed on any of the major podcast platforms, such as Abson and Spotify, along with God and His Son to die on a cross.

Luisa:

And as always, please support us by sharing this podcast with a friend or on your social media.

Mike:

So till next to submit to his will. We wish you God's blessing as you navigate everyday life and join us on this journey world.

Luisa:

A journey and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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Luisa and Mike Sirignano

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