‘Goody Two-Shoes’ is the name given to a poor orphan – Margery Meanwell. She was so poor as to possess only one shoe and was delighted when given a pair of shoes by a rich gentleman. Then she kept repeating that she had ‘two shoes’. Sometimes, this title is given to Christians who do the right thing. However, the truth is that none of us are good and God himself exclaimed early in history that there was none that did good which is when he regretted that he had made man on the Earth at all. The flood followed but God in his mercy had a plan to preserve the human race by saving 8 people together with pairs of the various animals, birds and creatures that ever existed.

When we aim to impress others with acts of kindness or goodness, then our life can become religious, which is not what God has intended for the human race. If we’re honest, we struggle with even wanting to do good at times let alone doing kind and costly actions that God so often requires of us. The Christian life is all about dying to what ‘I’ want and doing the works that God wants… doing them in His strength and energy not in our human strength which can look and sometimes feel appealing. So how can we avoid being religious? I suggest 3 ways:-
1 Become born again as Jesus explained in John’s Gospel, chapter 3 – then transformations from the inside out of a person can take place
2 Spend time with God every day, reading the Bible and praying and fellowshipping with God’s people (not always in a church setting).
2 Listen to God’s still small voice that can be accessed at any time because the Holy Spirit dwells in each Christian … and learn to obey that voice.

Then, if anyone even implies that we are good or are acting like ‘Goody Two Shoes’ (who really has been misrepresented) we can assert quite emphatically that only God is good and whatever goodness or kindness may flow out of our lives, is totally from Him.

Our children need to know this in a simple form also as they can’t be expected to be good without the Holy Spirit working in them – even when they are born again. We each slip up but God is our restorer as we say sorry in a given situation. To have too high an expectation of our children can make them perform what is not real in their experience just to please us adults. As we point children to the Saviour of the world, then they and us can relax and let God produce the real McCoy. Diamond Books aim to nourish children’s hearts with truth and vitality and love as well as develop their reading ability.