God’s Goodness

tov: God’s Goodness That Brings Life to the World – Through You!

Most of us use the word good dozens of times a day.

A good coffee.

A good podcast.

A good weekend.

A good meeting (or at least not a terrible one).

But in Scripture, the word good carries a depth our English language almost can’t hold.
The Hebrew word is tov – small, simple, and yet explosively alive. This reflection explores the biblical meaning of tov and why this word carries a depth we often miss.

tov is goodness that creates life and carries the potential for more life within it.
It’s not just something that feels good – it’s something that produces good.

Where our modern “good” describes personal preference, biblical tov describes life-giving impact:
goodness that regenerates, heals, nourishes, and multiplies.

This is why God looks at creation and says “tov.”
Not because it was simply beautiful, but because it was fruitful, overflowing with seeds that would bear life for generations.

tov in the Creation Story

In Genesis 1:11–12, God calls forth vegetation – plants and trees with seeds inside them. And He calls it tov.

Why?
Because tov is not about what something is.
It’s about what it produces.

God’s creation pattern is unmistakable:
God calls forth life
Life responds
Life carries seeds of more life

If a plant grows but has no seeds – it’s not tov.
If a tree bears fruit that cannot reproduce – it’s not tov.

tov = life that gives birth to life. This is the heart of the biblical meaning of tov — goodness that produces more life.

This same truth applies to us. You were designed to bear fruit, carry seeds, and multiply goodness.

tov in Our Own Lives

If we are like trees, then tov in us looks like:

• encouragement that awakens courage
• wisdom that inspires growth
• kindness that stirs kindness
• creativity that unlocks creativity
• faith that strengthens faith

tov is never self-contained. tov always spills over.

Whenever you love, serve, speak, create, or lead in a way that brings someone else to life – that is tov.

The Parable of the Talents – A tov Story

Many of us know Jesus’ parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30) as a story about faith, trust, stewardship or productivity.
Perhaps have a read through it again if its been a while and to refamiliarise with it. Seen through the biblical meaning of tov, the parable becomes a story about courage, seeds, and multiplication.

When viewed through the lens of tov, it becomes something deeper – a story about seeds, courage, and life-multiplying goodness.

In the parable, each servant is entrusted with talents – not just money in their culture, but also a powerful metaphor for the seeds, gifts, abilities, and graces God places within each of us.

Two servants step out. They take risks and activate what they’ve been given.
And, what happens?
Their talents multiply.
Their seeds produce seeds.
Their life creates more life.

That is tov.

But the third servant? He buries his talent in the ground.
Not because he is lazy, but because he is afraid. He believes a false narrative about the Master – one rooted in fear, scarcity, and inadequacy.

This servant chooses safety over sowing, avoidance over activation, self-protection over multiplication. And his seed produces nothing.
It bears no fruit…there is no tov.

Not because it lacked potential – but because it was never given a chance to grow.

A New Way of Seeing the Parable

Seen through the lens of tov, this parable becomes an invitation for all of us:

Will you plant the seeds God has placed in you?
Will you activate what He has entrusted?
Will you courageously step out so that your life becomes life-giving to others with eternal impact?

The barrier is rarely a lack of gifting. It’s mostly the past hurts or experiences and internal stories we tell ourselves:
“I’m not enough.”
“I’m not ready.”
“Others are better than me.”
“What if I fail?”
“What if I get it wrong?”

But the truth is this: Jesus never asks you to multiply your gifts in your own strength.
He is the power source. The Holy Spirit is the life-force. We are simply the ones who take the next step, sow the next seed, say “yes” to the next act of obedience. And as we do, He breathes life into what we offer.

This is what Paul means when he writes:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6

Our role is movement. His role is multiplication.
And the plans He invites us into?
They are tov plans.

God’s Plans & You Calling – Jeremiah 29:7–11

Jeremiah 29 reveals the biblical meaning of tov in God’s plans for His people — life-giving, hopeful, future-shaping. When God speaks to His people in exile (remembering this is not our true home)
He calls them to step into tov, right where they are:

“Seek the flourishing of the city in which I have carried you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its flourishing you will find your flourishing” (v.7)

Plant – Build – Bless – Multiply – Bring life.

Then comes His famous promise:
“For I know the plans I have for you…
Plans for tov and not for harm.
Plans to give you a hope and a future.” (v.11)

God’s plans for your life are tov. Not just comfortable, but genuinely life-giving.
Fruit-bearing, purpose-forming that brings life to the people around you, to the place where he has planted you.

The question is:
What step will you now take to activate it?

The Invitation

God’s invitation to each of us is simple and profound:
Be people of tov.
Let God release the seeds of life inside you.
Partner with His Spirit.
Step out of comfort and into calling.
Let your life become someone else’s flourishing.

And remember, the same Spirit who hovered over creation now lives in you. You never sow alone.
Jesus is with you.
Jesus is in you.
Jesus is the power source.

Your role is simply to take the next step, do your best, learn from the (inevitable) mistakes…..and trust Him with what comes next.

Go well,
Nicholas Marks

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