Matthew 7:7-12 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture because of its description of God’s goodness to us. For most of my early years as a Christian, really until I was 29, I was convinced that God was at minimum mildly displeased with me and at worst, really mad at me. I never felt I could measure up to His standards, and I was always waiting for “the other shoe to drop.” I’ve told the story many times, but a true, biblical perspective came to me through John Piper’s book, The Pleasures of God. Specifically, chapter 7 of that book, entitled “The Pleasure of God to do good to those who trust in Him,” hit my heart like a sledgehammer and eradicated an unholy fear of the Lord. Matthew 7:7-12 was a main text that God used to show me His goodness.
There are a few things from the cutting room floor that I think we should consider.
I realize that it is very challenging, but God is really THAT good. But His goodness does not come to us without purpose or intent. God’s goodness means He will discipline us when we sin against Him. It means that He will give us everything we need to live a godly life. It means that He can be trusted and all that He has commanded is good for us. Martin Luther trusted God’s fatherly goodness so completely that he said, “If God asked me to eat the dung off the street, not only would I eat it, but I would believe it’s good for me.” Wow, that’s pretty radical.
For those of us who grew up in homes with hard-core and mean parents, we can still see the look of irritation or hear the frustration in their voices. But what if I told you that God never treats us like that? He’s always glad we’ve come, and He never turns His ear away from us. Stunning! As Piper wrote, “God’s mercy is on a hair-trigger, but His anger is on a stiff safety lock.”
Connecting God’s goodness to the Golden Rule:
Something that stirred my heart after I preached on Sunday was seeing how the Great Commandment is lived out in Matthew 7:7-12. In Matthew 22:37-30, Jesus said, “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ‘ ” This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Notice this with me: Matthew 7:7-11 tells us we are to love God with all our hearts. He is good, glorious, and perfect. He has no sinister side, and He will never do anything that is evil. He really is working all things together for our good, conforming us to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:28-29).
But Matthew 7:12 tells us how to love others as ourselves. Treat them the way we would want to be treated. And, the way we would want to be treated is exactly how God has treated us. And notice…this fulfills the Law and the Prophets.
If we don’t connect God’s goodness toward us to the Golden Rule, we risk it becoming natural, humanistic moralism. The Golden Rule is the farthest thing from that. God has been so kind to us. He has done good for us and to us. And one of the acts of goodness is making us more and more like Jesus. This, in turn, changes the way we treat others. And in so doing, we fulfill the Law and the Prophets…as our Savior did.
Looking ahead:
This Sunday, we will study Matthew 7:13-20 and examine the fruit of our lives.
Cheap Seats:
- The Home Run Derby on Monday night was outstanding. Jordan Walker seemed as calm as a cucumber as he ran off a bunch of clutch home runs. You’ve got to watch this summary of the night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JhOTEzhSls
- My pick for the World Cup…is France. Now, my hope is that England can pull it off.
- Erling Haaland has turned into a worldwide superstar during the World Cup. He’s a player for Norway, and he plays his club season at Manchester City (my favorite team). His social media followers increased by almost 20 million over 40 days in the U.S.A. But this picture sums it all up: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49353144/erling-haaland-norway-return-home-heroes-welcome-world-cup-exit. He’s a unique superstar who greets everyone with an ‘ah shucks’ personality and who thoroughly enjoys what he does.
- On Norway: I read an interesting article about their sports culture: https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/11/sport/norway-sports-culture. Here’s a summary: “A central Norwegian sporting idea is idrettsglede—“the joy of sport.” The basic conviction is that children usually develop best when sport remains enjoyable, social, and personally meaningful—not when adults turn every activity into an early search for elite performers. The best way to produce excellent adult athletes is not to treat children like professional athletes. In the dog-eat-dog world of US sports, this seems needed.
Christ is King!
In Christ,
Dave York
