I was single, sick and severely dehydrated. She was a nurse and a really good friend. And on that night she was kindness in action. She fed me. Checked on me. Gave me liquids. And when morning came and they admitted me into the hospital she sat there with my baby brother while the IV dripped into my veins and I questioned if all of that fluid going into my five foot two frame could drown me. We laugh now. But she shared her fruit. I picked it and was so grateful that she was an abider so that I could.

When is the last time someone has picked your goodness? Your homemade chicken soup when they were sick? Your call when you knew they were struggling? Your prayers when they couldn’t pray for themselves? A check in the mail when their checks simply weren’t enough to make ends meet? Goodness. Fruit. Kindness in actual manifestation Strong’s says.

The fruit of the spirit of goodness is something entirely different than an earthly propensity for goodness or kindness. The fruit of the spirit of goodness reveals Jesus. That is its desire. It reminds people I’m doing this because God has been so wonderful to me. I’m doing this because when I needed people the most God brought them to me at just the right time with exactly what I needed. I’m giving this check because I know what it is to be down to the last penny and wonder where the provision was coming from and God showed up. Goodness in action reminds people why the action exists at all. “There is nothing good in me.” But oh the goodness in Christ. And because of Him, because of abiding, we can offer the fruit of goodness. And those who can pick it, those sick, tired, hurting, hungry souls, are so grateful you were willing to pay the price.