The Goodness of God

Having had a discussion today with my fellow brothers it is great to share some points of our discussion here. The purpose is that you learn something and also be able to share something back with us and with your fellows where in turn we will be better people.


The greatest wish is that we serve God best through and amongst the people he has put us amongst as to reflect his goodness as God. The main Topic then is the "goodness of God". The goodness of God is said to have been suspended by four points being love, grace, mercy and kindness.

Today we will start with the leg called love where we explore what we mean by the love of God and how can we practically share the love of God in our church today and how should our personal nature be as compared to the personal nature of God as far as love is concerned.

Love; if one of the aspects that define God’s goodness is love then we can agree with Marshall et al in saying that the attributes such as love can be defined in terms of God, He is love.

Speaking of God as love would need a bit of describing love and see which one best fits the goodness of God as far as love is concerned because love definitions in English usage can be vast and suits certain contexts.

Now amongst all love descriptions it would be suiting to take the personal nature of love. Being rooted firmly in the personal character of God himself, it is deeper than that of a mother for her children (Isaiah 49:15; 66:13).

This is most clear in Hosea 1-3, where (in whatever order the chapters are to be read) the relation between the prophet and his unfaithful wife Gomer is illustrative of the ultimate basis of the divine covenant in a deeper than legal relationship, in a love that is willing to suffer.

God’s love is part of his personality, and cannot be swayed by passion or diverted by disobedience (Hosea 11:1-4; 7-9 this passage is the nearest the Old Testament approaches to a declaration that God is love). Israel’s unfaithfulness can have no effect upon it, for ‘I have loved you with everlasting love’ (Jeremiah 31:3).

The threat to ‘love them no more’ (Hosea 9:15) is best interpreted as one to be their God no more. So here we hear that the extent to which God loves his people he rather not be their God if he is to hold them to their iniquities and not love them.

By Simphiwe Kanityi