"There is none who does good, no, not one."
Psalm 14:3
A prison inmate sat down to talk with the chaplain. He said, "All my life I wanted to do good, but that's just not who I am. I don't think that I ever could really be good, so why try?" The chaplain said, "Do you think that you are any different than all the rest of us? The Bible teaches us that none of us are good. We have all sinned. That's the reason our only hope is in the grace of God." Then, the chaplain went on to tell him how God can really change us. That day, the inmate received the grace and goodness of God by faith in Christ.
The Bible teaches that man's core problem is his heart. Our hearts are turned toward selfishness and sin. That doesn't mean that we are as bad as we could be. It does mean that we have a sinful nature. Only God can change the heart of man. The psalmist David realized that his problem was in his heart. He cried out to God, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
When a person receives Christ Jesus by faith, the Holy Spirit changes his heart. The Spirit of God produces fruit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). That fruit includes love, joy, and peace, as well as goodness. It's the goodness of God working through us.
The inmate needed to know that it's not a matter of trying to be good. It is a matter of trusting in God's goodness. His goodness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Thereafter, any goodness that anyone sees in our lives should bring glory to God. He is the author of all goodness.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.
