God really wants to please us. According to A.W. Tozer, “God is kindhearted, gracious, good-natured, and benevolent in intention.” He is also cordial, he never thinks any bad thoughts about anyone, and he is infinitely good, always good, and perfectly good.
This certainly does not describe me. How about you? Even though we see evidence of God’s goodness in the created world and in the blessings we have received, we tend to define God’s goodness in terms of our own human goodness and how we think our lives should be. But there is no way that we can compare God’s goodness with our feeble attempts at being good.
All of God’s attributes work together to make his goodness far beyond our comprehension. His Word gives us countless examples of what his goodness looks like in human terms. God spoke directly to his people to guide them; he gave them what they needed and more: water, food, and flocks. He rescued them from great harm, and he even gave them children when it seemed physically impossible. But his greatest gift was Jesus, his very own Son.
We do not deserve God’s goodness or any of his gifts, but yet he is good to us simply because he chooses to be. James 1:17-18 tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.”
As we enter the season of Lent, we can reflect on how desperately we need the perfect gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection. And as we receive God’s forgiveness and the promise of eternal life, we can “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
This is the fourth post in a series by NCF Director Jane Hall on God's attributes. She is inspired by the writings of A.W. Tozer in "The Attributes of God Volume 1 with Study Guide: A Journey Into the Father's Heart."
Add new comment