What is Good?

Good Morning. Good Evening. Good luck. It was a good game. I had a good run. She is a good girl…we use this word all the time…but, what is good?

As an English major and writer, I have to say that we often misuse the word “good.” We use it as an adverb rather than as an adjective. Stay with me…When someone says, “How are you doing?” we often respond with “Good!” when we want to describe how we are feeling or how our day is going. But what does this answer really mean?

• If you mean to say “I’m doing good,” you are basically saying “I’m doing good things or good work…”
• If you mean to say, “I’m good,” you are saying, “I = good.”

Instead, if you say that you’re doing “Well” or “Nicely” or “Superbly” these words describe how you’re doing.

Good isn’t always what we think it is. Sometimes we can’t tell good from bad. Cake is good, unless you can’t stop eating it. Drugs are good when you are in the hospital and need to have a surgery, but when drugs take over your life, they are poison.

On the other hand, God knows good. He invented it. We need to study His Word to learn about what is truly good, so that we will also know what is not.

When I searched the scriptures for the word “good,” often I found the comparison to evil:

• Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21, ESV).
• Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light
  and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20, ESV).
• Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it (Proverbs 11:27, ESV).

That’s one way of studying good, by looking at its opposite. But what if we decided to study good, by looking for it?

For the next month, I will be writing about what good means, according to God’s Word. I’ve also started looking for good in my life. I am collecting evidence about God, that He = good. I want to discover the ways that He is a good Provider and a good Father and that He’s doing good things, good work. I’m taking pictures and sharing them on Instagram. You can join me by using the hashtag #CuratingtheGood.

By the way, I’m participating in Write 31 Days, a writing challenge that comes around every October and this year I’m writing about Curating the Good. I’ve done this two times before—once about A Simpler Joy and once about A More Abundant Life.

This year is a little different though. I’m already starting later than I should. It’s 11:57 pm and so I’m officially still on course, for today. I’m getting Day One done, on day one. But, writing has been hard for me lately and I don’t know if I will be able to get it done this year. But I’m going for it because I love the idea of learning more about God’s goodness. Won’t you join me?