Good Girl?

My 16-month-old daughter is learning to talk. Well, she talks already, but in her own language, so I guess I should say she’s learning English. She knows a number of words, like dog, baby, bye-bye, amen and the obligatory mama, dada and nana. She’s also learned to repeat a phrase she hears from me often: good girl. She doesn’t pronounce it perfectly, but I recognize it because she repeats it after she hears me say it. Whether she obeys something I’ve asked, or finishes her food or accomplishes a new feat, I’m quick to point out I’ve noticed and appreciate what she’s done.

Today in the car, though, she said it without my prompting. “Good girl?” she seemed to ask. My heart swelled when I heard her ask and I assured her, “Yes, good girl.”

I also recognized the question as one that’s near to my own heart. I often find myself asking God, “Good girl?” I don’t use those exact words, but the intention is the same. I long for some reassurance now and again from my Heavenly Father that I please Him, that I’m living in the way He intends for me to, that I’m moving in the right direction.

Seven times in the first chapter of Genesis God looked at his creation and “saw that it was good.” He didn’t say it was good. Things that he said were spoken into existence. He simply saw that those things were good. He never said it. And as much as my heart asks, “Am I good?” I never get an answer.

With the introduction of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in chapter two of Genesis and the subsequent rebellion, humanity fell into a state of sin that could only be redeemed by the arrival of the good news in the New Testament. While those who accept that good news are in the process of being redeemed, the total restoration won’t be complete until the life after this.

Because of that, there is no one who is good, but God (this echoes throughout the Bible in Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:20 and Romans 3:12). But we do have the option of acting good until our original created nature is restored. “Model the good,” The Message translation says. “The person who does good does God’s work” (3 John 1:11).

I often have to correct my toddler’s behavior; I recognize that she’s not always a “good” girl. It’s my job to shape, mold and direct her behavior. And when she is “good,” she’s simply modeling behavior that I’ve taught her. Her motivation for repeating that behavior is the positive reinforcement she gets from me.

I realize that God has given me tools to do the same. I can read His word (and then do it), I can practice spiritual disciplines to increase the Holy Spirit’s ability to guide me, and I can surround myself with fellow believers who model the “good” – God’s work.

If I do that work faithfully, I do have a promise in His word that I will finally hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ (Matthew 25:23, NIV). That will be a good thing, indeed.