Think of being a good person this way. Let’s say that you are not a good person. What does that mean? It is very hard to understand it if you happen to be good, but you can imagine it anyway. Being bad is described best perhaps by the fact that when you were a child, bad behavior should have been curtailed by the use of deterrents such as language and in some cases physical force. These are tools of negative reinforcement, that is, if you continue to do such and such then such and such will happen that will sound and feel like this.
Later on in life, the law takes over where the parental controls have ebbed. The job of monitoring the behavior of others is placed in the hands of professionals, who are trained to maintain order in society by keeping at bay those who violate the rights of others. The spectrum of good and bad takes on a more impersonal approach based upon laws rather than family forces.
When lawlessness runs rampant, people have become irresponsible. It is the duty of every individual to maintain order, and the notion of a community as a common bond reminiscent of family is an important concept that keeps those who would otherwise stray from good deeds in line with the general notion of what constitutes goodness. The human race is punctuated with historical epochs of when these bonds become shattered, and people who call themselves good generally refer to these times as dark.
Darkness is the term used to describe individuals who have gone awry. This indicates the void that most recognize as the absence of love and kindness. It is agreed among most people who identify themselves as good that love is the great well of goodness. The more love one feels they possess the more gratified they feel. A litmus test for proving this is the reaction that loving people receive from others who do not feel love.
One true test of whether a person is good is when an individual reacts irrationally and hateful in the face of what is otherwise simple loving behavior. Which is why it is wonderful to be a good person, but it is also difficult. Goodness and love are not compatible with darkness and hate. The two clash and the result is war. It is important to remember that good people must be strong, because the front line in the war on evil is by and large the responsibility of them.