No, it's not that I don't believe that there is good in everyone. I believe that there is at the very least the potential for good in everyone. Nobody breathing is beyond redemption. It's not because it's hard to do sometimes. It's easier to see the good in some than others, but I didn't stop looking for the good in others because it can be hard or disappointing. One day I saw someone post that we need to look for the good in others, and I thought to myself, "Why?"
I'm not being flippant. Have you ever stopped for a second to ask why you believe it is good or necessary to see the good in people? We have been so indoctrinated with this that the knee jerk response may be because we all have good in us and we need to look for that or something similar, which is pretty much like saying the sky is blue because it is. But seriously, why do we see this as a good thing or a necessary thing to do?
I really did think about it, and here's what I came up with. I look to see the good in you so that I can see that you have value, so that I have a reason to treat you better, and, hopefully, so that I can help you to like yourself and treat yourself better. If I don't see anything good in or about you, it's far too easy for me to treat you poorly, to despise and reject you, to act as though you are insignificant and not worth my time, patience, compassion or love. You don't deserve my respect or even to be treated like a human being of value, and therefore you are not. But this is not true, we know this, even when we don't. People have value, and treating one another as though we don't makes the world a hurtful, hateful place. When I recognize that there is good in you, it becomes easier to believe that you deserve kindness. And if I can point out that good to you, then perhaps I can encourage you to believe that you are not worthless and help you to stop making destructive choices. Maybe I can convince you that you are worthy, that you deserve kindness, even from yourself.
But where is the grace in that? Is the Jesus in me cheering me on as I seek to balance the evaluation and what I judge you deserve by looking for the good in you? No. In fact what the Spirit told me as I thought about this was, "Aren't you glad that I didn't base the way I treat you and love you on what you deserve?" Jesus didn't set the line at 50% good, or even 5% good. He didn't say I love you if there is at least a little good in you. Your value is not based on how much good verses bad you are.
God said that you have value, so much so that He was willing to die to make it possible for you to have relationship with Him. He loves you as you are, not as you should be, and no matter what you've done or what's been done to you, He calls you to come to Him and let Him be your Daddy. He is good to us, and His mercies are new every morning. Jesus humbled Himself, wrapped Himself in flesh, to serve, to give of Himself, and, ultimately, to sacrifice Himself for us in our place. The Spirit wants to make His home within us to guide us to life, to heal and restore and comfort us, and to make us new and whole. And not one bit of that has anything at all to do with what we deserve or how much good is or isn't to be found in our hearts. If I am good is not a factor in the equation.
Jesus did not come to die for us because He saw the good in us. He didn't come to bring out the good in us or to help us be better. He came to make us new, to transform us, because He loves us. And He came to call us to follow Him. It doesn't help me or you for me to encourage you to be good and see the good in yourself. Your value is not based on your goodness. You are not significant because you are good. Your worth is not established by the percentage of goodness. We are not fruit that is bruised but not yet totally bad and therefore worth something, even if not full price. Our value is based on God saying we are worth everything to Him, and for the joy of having us able to come to Him, He gladly paid the full price of the cross.
When I look for the good in myself to make myself feel worth something, then I put the pressure on my performance and my goodness. If I want to feel less worthless, I need to be better and do better. And that leads to hopelessness and despair, because I can never be good enough. I either have to eventually lower the bar and grade on the curve or give up trying. Or I crush myself under the burden of performance. And if that is true when I look within, how is it less true when I look at others, at you? Looking for the good in you to call you worthy and encouraging you to see the good in yourself and see yourself as worthy because of it is a very Pharisee thing to do, and Jesus said it is a burden that kills.
On the other hand, when I let the fact that I am loved by God determine my value, everything changes. It is no longer that I am not worthless because I am good, or at least not all bad. It is I am not worthless because Jesus loves me and says I am worth dying for. The burden is gone. He didn't determine my value or how much He loves me based on my performance, and my performance won't, can't. change it for good or ill. That changes how I treat you. I don't treat you as though you have value and are significant because there is good in you. I am not kind to you because you deserve it. I love you because He loves you. I know you have value, whether I see any good or not, because He says you are worth dying for and He wants you to come and be part of the family.
I no longer try to help you by pointing out your good and trying to convince you that there is good in you. I don't ever say, "You do this and don't do this so can't you see you aren't worthless?" I don't want to put a weight on you that I can't bear myself. I declare that you are not worthless! But not because you are good. It is because God loves you and appraised you as precious. He wants to take all aspects of deserve out of it and gladly paid full price to redeem you and make you His, so that He can be your Daddy and heal you and restore you to the beautiful unique reflection of Him that you were created to be.
So basically, I don't look for the good because I don't care about it. No matter how good you are, you aren't good enough. None of us are. I don't care what you deserve or don't deserve or if I can see your worth in my evaluation or your actions. I trust God's appraisal, and He says you are worth everything, even the life of His Son. That is a much better way to inspire me to be kind, loving and compassionate to you than your performance. And since I do care about you and want to help you, I would encourage you to not only stop trying to balance the scales but throw them out. Stop trying to see yourself as something other than worthless because of how much good you see in yourself or how well you perform. Forget that and remember that Jesus loves you as you are, not as you should be,but He loves you enough not to leave you as you are.
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