Goodness is one of God’s attributes. And, the only way that people can be good is via God’s constant grace in their lives. Goodness, a fruit of the Holy Spirit within us, reflects God’s character. “Whoever does good is from God.” (3 John 1:11) Every child of God is created for good works.

People talk a lot about goodness. He had a good night’s sleep.Farbucks makes a good cup of coffee. The baby is being so good. (Translated: She is not crying right now.)

Not as much is said about the moral sense of goodness, except when it is reduced to I did my good deed for the day. True goodness is so much fuller than that and needs to be discussed and encouraged.

Goodness is one of God’s attributes. And, the only way that people can be good is via God’s constant grace in their lives. Goodness, a fruit of the Holy Spirit within us, reflects God’s character. “Whoever does good is from God.” (3 John 1:11) Every child of God is created for good works.

But, as with all fruit, goodness needs to be tended for the best results. Neglected plants might bear some fruit, but the quality is inferior. Wild black caps taught me that. As a child, I sometimes picked them from bushes that grew on the edge of a country road. I had to walk through weeds to visit several plants in order to get a handful of small, seedy berries. The untended black caps were not very tasty, and no one would make a pie from them. It wasn’t worth the time and effort.

I could taste the difference when, as an adult, I ate commercially cultivated black raspberries. The berries were large, juicy and delicious. Although cultivated black raspberries and wild black caps are both Rubus occidentalis, there is a big difference in the fruit. In addition, superior fruit comes at a price. In the same way, cultivating the fruit of the spirit can be costly, but it is worth the care and attention.

Please pray for the pastor’s wife to bear much good fruit. Ask that:

• the Holy Spirit will show her God’s goodness as it is displayed in the Bible and her day-to-day life
• she can imitate Jesus by going about and doing good (Acts 10:38)
• she will be encouraged in her efforts
• the pastor’s wife can be willing to do good even if she must suffer for it (1 Peter 2:20)
• she will receive a great reward by doing good to those who hate her (Luke 6:27, 35)
• God will allow goodness and mercy to follow her all the days of her life (Psalm 23:6)

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

A country girl married to a city boy for 40 years, Patsy Evans experiences the full spectrum of what is it like to love a pastor and be the mother to two children in ministry. What she does know, she shares with you and prays it will glorify God. This article first appeared on her blog Sunday Women and is used with permission.