"Fruit of the Spirit" Friday: Kindness

Kindness is something everyone wants and some don’t expect. ? Kindness is defined as “the state or quality of being kind, which means “of a good or benevolent nature or disposition;” it also means “having, showing, or proceeding from benevolence.” Kindness, therefore, is being genuinely good-natured and benevolent toward others.

Recently, an underclassman in my daughter’s Spanish  group was visibly shocked that she was nice to him. It was as if he didn’t know what to do because he had expected to be treated with disdain and a lack of respect. She smiled and was kind to him—it caught him off guard, and I think it took him a while to ponder the reality and genuineness of it. The next day, he was conversing with her and much more relaxed. All the result of a little authentic kindness.

Kindness a fruit of the Spirit. When we allow God’s Spirit to actively work in our lives we will grow in kindness. I believe kindness is largely a result of changing our inaccurate or sinful perspectives to ones which are in agreement with God’s. The Bible says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).If we turn away from evil and wrong thinking, choosing instead to to humbly follow God and obey Him, we are sowing kindness in our lives—because in our repentance, we embrace His kindness toward us.

Kindness is the opposite of hurting. When we say someone is being “unkind,” we usually mean they are being hurtful... Instead, the nature of our words, as they flow from what’s in our hearts, should be kind. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up” (Ephesians 4:29a). The quality of our speech is a strong indicator of what we’ve sown in the ground of our hearts. When other kids were mean to me or made fun of me in elementary school, my mom always used to advise me to “kill ‘em with kindness.” I think what she meant was to treat them in such a way that they’d eventually be won over by persistent kindness—having been affected from the inside out.

People who exude kindness are pleasant to be around, and because they are good-natured, they engender a feeling of safety and security. Such a person has “stored up” treasures in his or her heart -“For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34b). For what we “plant” (allow to take root) in our hearts produces fruit that will either be for good or for evil. Kindness is an indicator that a person has held onto “treasures” and kept his or her heart soft. And to keep kindness growing, we need to distribute it regularly. Kindness kept to itself is merely a good intention. Kindness must be shared. Just as a good harvest goes bad if it isn’t used, kindness that isn’t activated is wasted.

Because the Bible says “God is love” and He commands us to first love Him, followed by “…love your neighbor as yourself,” love would seem to be the primary measure of our Christ-likeness. But one of the qualities of love itself is kindness (“Love is patient, love is kind…” – I Corinthians 13). If we are showing kindness then, we are acting in love.

Mark Twain said, “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” It’s the language of the heart. It’s powerful, life-giving, and therefore worth cultivating. Kindness can turn a frown into a smile, a commonplace event into a memorable one, and an enemy into a friend. Try it.