Mess it Up Show 431 - Rectitude

Mess it Up Show 431 - Rectitude

What drives someone to seek a life that’s genuinely good, not just "good enough"? This instalment of the Fruit of the Spirit series on Mess It Up Podcast tackles that head‑on, as the Bow Tie Guy and Bev chat through what biblical goodness looks like in everyday, messy lives and recovery journeys.

Kicking off with the cheeky Word of the Week, "rectitude"—"the quality of being honest or morally correct"—they link this idea of upright living to the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22–23. Bev questions how the word "good" gets watered down in daily chat, from ice cream to paying bills, and together they shift the focus from things being good to people *doing* and *being* good through the Spirit’s work.

You’ll hear them compare the Fruit of the Spirit to one single tree producing different flavours of the same fruit, rather than separate "fruits". That image helps frame goodness as part of a larger spiritual makeover, not a one‑off nice gesture. The Bow Tie Guy notes, "The apple tree doesn't try to make an apple; it just can't not," showing how genuine goodness flows naturally when someone’s "plugged into" God, instead of white‑knuckling their behaviour.

The chat gets practical too: what happens when good intentions are misunderstood, or never received at all? They use playful examples from reality TV and everyday encounters to show how motives and outcomes don’t always line up, yet the call remains to keep putting good into the world—especially when it’s hard.

With a nod to the song "I Believe It" by John Reddick, they highlight a "God so good he'd leave his home in glory", inviting listeners to see goodness as something rooted in God’s character, not human performance. The episode closes by urging anyone who feels stuck or messy to connect with God’s Spirit and let that goodness reshape their life. Ready to think about how goodness could show up in your story today?