A Pastor’s Thoughts: Are You A Good Person?

By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church —

Are You A Good Person?

How about that for a simple but thought-provoking question? 

Most people would answer this question quickly and say, “Yes, I’m a good person!” Yet, interestingly, the Lord Jesus was approached one day and asked the following question in Luke 18:18, “Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And, amazingly, Jesus responded with these words, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Jesus continued to respond to the man’s question by instructing him to keep the seventh, sixth, eighth, ninth, and fifth commandments (Exodus 20:12–16), each of which pertains to man’s relationship with others. To this, the man said, “I have kept all these commandments.”

Then Jesus spoke to what stood between him and God; his riches. In Luke 18:22–23: “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.”

23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.” Finally, Jesus spoke to the reality that it is hard to enter into God’s Kingdom and went on to say that with men it’s impossible, but with God all things are possible.

So then the question remains, “Are you a good person?” The “bad news” is that we’ve all broken the commandments of God. While we may not be murderers or drunkards or bank robbers or worse, we’ve all done things that are against the laws of God. The bad news is that, according to Jesus, no one is good, except for God.

The fact of the matter is that we’ve all sinned and come short of the Glory of God. This is the very reason that Jesus came into this world; in order to heal the rift that exists between God and man. But there is “Good News!” Jesus died, was buried, and He rose again on the third day. He did so, so that our sins could be forgiven. In order for the “bad news” to become “good news” we must (a) acknowledge that we’re sinners, (b) believe that Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven, and (c) confess Jesus as our Lord. When we do this, the goodness of Jesus is imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. 

I’m not a good person, but 50 years ago, I made the most important decision a person can make. I confessed my sins and invited Jesus to be the Lord of my life. Now, the goodness of Jesus has been imparted to me. 

There’s no good in me but Jesus. As I pray for the people of Owego and the surrounding communities, I pray that we would all make life’s most important decision, which is to trust Jesus so that the goodness of God might be imparted to us. May God have mercy and grace upon all of us.