God really is good.  The misconceptions our society has about God have come from so many ways in which he has been misrepresented through the ages.  Many people in positions of authority have taught directly, or indirectly through the example of their lifestyle, that God is something other than good, loving, generous, gracious or kind.  As a result, most people, even in the Church, have a level of discomfort or confusion about the idea that God is good.

If we say, “God is love”,  most people would accept this and agree to it without much thought. Why is this so?  Because we have been taught the theological principle that God is love.  A somewhat unsettling thought is that we could actually be stating our agreement merely because we have grown up hearing this theological principle so often we’ve accepted it as fact without actually growing to believe it.

Love and goodness are connected.  If someone loves you, they will be good to you.  They will look after your well-being, they will be concerned for your safety, they will want good things for you.  So, in this discussion about God’s goodness, how is it that we can have a distinction between his love (which most people generally accept) and his goodness?  If God is Love then he also is Good.

Could it be that we have not experienced God for who he really is?  Is it possible that we have based our understanding of God on what other people have told us or demonstrated to us, rather than on our own search into his character and nature?  Perhaps it’s time to look into it for ourselves.