The Distortion of Good

From the beginning, good did not originate with humanity. In Genesis 1, God declares creation “good” before Adam ever evaluates it. Good was not a feeling. It was not a preference. It was alignment with the will and order of God. Yet the moment humanity began deciding good apart from God, distortion entered the world. Genesis 3 tells us that Eve saw the fruit was “good for food,” “pleasing to the eye,” and “desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6). What looked good directly contradicted what was good. That moment marks the first corruption of the word.

We still live in that distortion today. We say something is good because it tastes good, yet Scripture reminds us that what feeds the flesh often starves the soul. “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). Many of the things that are healthiest for us spiritually are bitter, slow, uncomfortable, and costly. And many of the things that destroy us arrive sweet, convenient, and appealing. When taste becomes our compass, truth becomes optional.

We also define good by what looks good. Scripture warns us repeatedly not to walk by sight but by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7). What looks good often hides pride, compromise, and self-preservation. God’s work, however, is often hidden, unimpressive, and unseen. Jesus Himself did not look like a king. Isaiah says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him” (Isaiah 53:2). If we had judged goodness by appearance alone, we would have missed salvation entirely.

Perhaps the most dangerous distortion is equating good with easy. Comfort has quietly become the modern litmus test for God’s will. If it’s smooth, we assume it’s God. If it’s painful, we question Him. Yet Scripture says, “The Lord disciplines the one He loves” (Hebrews 12:6), and again, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). God’s goodness is not proven by the absence of pain, but by the presence of purpose.

This brings us to a hard but necessary question: Is it good when God allows suffering? Scripture answers boldly. “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn Your decrees” (Psalm 119:71). Suffering is not God’s cruelty; it is often His chisel. Like a master sculptor, God removes what does not belong. He chips away pride disguised as confidence, ambition disguised as calling, and independence disguised as maturity. The pain is not the goal—the formation is.

Nowhere is the distortion of good exposed more clearly than at the cross. The cross looked like failure. It felt like abandonment. It tasted like suffering. Even Jesus prayed, “Let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). Yet the cross was the greatest good humanity has ever known. What appeared evil became redemption. What felt unbearable became eternal salvation. God’s best work often wears the disguise of loss.

Romans 8:28 does not say all things are good. It says God works all things together for good—for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Good is not what preserves the self; it is what transforms it. Good is not comfort; it is Christlikeness. Good is not ease; it is union with God.

When we allow God to redefine good, we stop resisting the chisel. We trust that what He removes is not punishment, but kindness. We begin to understand that devotion is not proven when life feels good, but when God is doing good in us—even when it hurts.

True goodness does not protect our preferences. It perfects our surrender.