“The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-26
I read an article a while back about a “Be Kind” message that began trending across the globe back in 2018 as a result of a woman repurposing a whiteboard she found thrown in the trash while on a walk. This woman simply wanted to encourage others with words of kindness, So she began to write positive messages on the board that she displayed in her front yard.
"Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body."
Proverbs 16:24
How true is this - we all long to be treated with kindness.
Yet why is it so hard?
Why is there a "Be Kind" movement trending on yard signs and t-shirts?
Why do we need to be reminded to be kind - when we all long for it ourselves?
Is it because we have become synical ?
Calloused from being hurt ourselves?
Distrustful of kindness?
So stubborn and focused on self that we are unable to see and hear another?
Built walls around our hearts or hardened them so as to protect ourselves from being hurt once again?
All of these play into why we may struggle with not being kind - sadly to the point that we have lost the ability to be kind.
If we look at Jesus we can see all throughout scripture that it was His kindness that drew many to Him.
Let's take a look a three different ways Jesus extended kindness and to whom.
Feeding the hungry
ark 6:34-44 "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
2. Healing the sick
Matthew 8:1-4 "When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” –
3. Caring for and spending time with "outcasts"
Luke 19:1-10 "Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was. But because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
“If God is Love, He is, by definition, something more than mere kindness.
And it appears, from all the records, that though He has often rebuked us and condemned us,
He has never regarded us with contempt.
He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most inexorable sense.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Kindness is what led God to provide salvation for us -
Titus 3:4-5 "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.."
Kindness leads God to show grace, mercy and forgiveness to those who repent and turn to Him -
Romans 2:4-8; "Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? 5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness."
Kindness leads God to give us His love, joy, peace, patience, etc. and restoration of our souls -
He is Kindness and He is King -