You're Not Good, You're Not Bad, You're Just Nice | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

You're Not Good, You're Not Bad, You're Just Nice

Nice is different than good.

312
You're Not Good, You're Not Bad, You're Just Nice
Royalty Free Stock Photos

There is a song that says, "You're not good,/You're not bad,/You're just nice." When I first heard this song, it struck a chord in my heart. Because many people have said of me, "Caitlyn is so nice!" It is a compliment. It really is. I want to be liked. But I realized something when they say this: I am a people pleaser. I want to be nice for attention and compliments from my friends, not because I am a genuinely good person.

God calls me to be holy as He is holy. He wants me to have qualities such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, and self-control. And I do not have any one of these because I'm just too nice. I am the resident yes-man. I'll support you, help you, encourage you, because I just want to be nice. Because, if I'm nice, you'll like me. And oh, how I want to be liked.

If I was really and truly good, not many people would really be partial to me. Miriam Webster defines good as being virtuous, right, commendable, kind, and benevolent. The righteous people I know, who are truly good, put me to shame. They are a mirror of virtuousness which, when I look at myself through them, all I see is my own hypocrisy and lies.

The nice person is the hypocrite who follows the rules so as not to get in trouble, but not because they believe the rules are good. The nice person is socially acceptable, but they are not benevolent. They are pleasing and agreeable. People like nice people since nice people are not confrontational. They do not reflect to others a good and wholesome example. Nice people will agree with you, so as not to be argumentative. They will not inspire you to be a better person.

A good person will set a good example. They will show others how to live righteously. They will not only follow all the rules, but they will believe in truth and mercy and justice. Their lives will reflect their attitudes. A good person will confront badness and do their best to help others be good too. They will set an example of charity and kindness. They will teach other people to do well also.

One cannot be a good person on their own volition. God is the only One who is good, and it is He who changes the nice person and the bad person into a good one. He possesses the Fruit of the Spirit which He gives in abundance if you only come to Him. It is in Him and His power alone that a person can attain true goodness. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. God's word is true and pure, and it can change the hardest heart.

I must remember, if I want to be a good person, not a nice one, a righteous one, not a hypocrite, I must turn to God for guidance. Righteousness-not niceness-is given to those who believe in Jesus Christ. I cannot go on being nice. I must turn to God and ask Him for His goodness to flow through me.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
ross geller
YouTube

As college students, we are all familiar with the horror show that is course registration week. Whether you are an incoming freshman or selecting classes for your last semester, I am certain that you can relate to how traumatic this can be.

1. When course schedules are released and you have a conflict between two required classes.

Bonus points if it is more than two.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

12 Things I Learned my Freshmen Year of College

When your capability of "adulting" is put to the test

3016
friends

Whether you're commuting or dorming, your first year of college is a huge adjustment. The transition from living with parents to being on my own was an experience I couldn't have even imagined- both a good and a bad thing. Here's a personal archive of a few of the things I learned after going away for the first time.

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

Economic Benefits of Higher Wages

Nobody deserves to be living in poverty.

302083
Illistrated image of people crowded with banners to support a cause
StableDiffusion

Raising the minimum wage to a livable wage would not only benefit workers and their families, it would also have positive impacts on the economy and society. Studies have shown that by increasing the minimum wage, poverty and inequality can be reduced by enabling workers to meet their basic needs and reducing income disparities.

I come from a low-income family. A family, like many others in the United States, which has lived paycheck to paycheck. My family and other families in my community have been trying to make ends meet by living on the minimum wage. We are proof that it doesn't work.

Keep Reading...Show less
blank paper
Allena Tapia

As an English Major in college, I have a lot of writing and especially creative writing pieces that I work on throughout the semester and sometimes, I'll find it hard to get the motivation to type a few pages and the thought process that goes behind it. These are eleven thoughts that I have as a writer while writing my stories.

Keep Reading...Show less
April Ludgate

Every college student knows and understands the struggle of forcing themselves to continue to care about school. Between the piles of homework, the hours of studying and the painfully long lectures, the desire to dropout is something that is constantly weighing on each and every one of us, but the glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel helps to keep us motivated. While we are somehow managing to stay enrolled and (semi) alert, that does not mean that our inner-demons aren't telling us otherwise, and who is better to explain inner-demons than the beloved April Ludgate herself? Because of her dark-spirit and lack of filter, April has successfully been able to describe the emotional roller-coaster that is college on at least 13 different occasions and here they are.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments