What Is Good?

Romans 8:28-29

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn of many brothers.

So it can be inferred that God's purpose is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ.  That is the ultimate goal - total redemption and thus holiness.  We must understand what is truly good and what is truly God's purpose to really get this verse, because I feel like this is one often taken out of context.  Our definition of good is different than God's definition, and who are we to argue against Him, as we concede that He is all-knowing and perfect while we are just human?

So when things don't go our way or by our flawed definition of good, we cannot conclude that God is not good.  We can only conclude that we don't know what good is, and just trust that God is working all things together so that we will be made into the image of Christ.  That perspective helps things go down the throat more smoothly, I think.

But it starts with changing our definition of good and truly understanding God's purpose.