We come now to the Spirit’s Fruit of Kindness. We often think of kindness as merely a type of attitude or demeanor that someone has. When we say that someone is kind, we mean that they are “generally nice and pleasant to be around because they don’t annoy me.”
But the biblical concept of kindness puts the accent on action. Someone who is kind is one who eagerly desires to benefit others in a tangible way. “It’s a generous orientation of our hearts toward other people.” A kind person is one who constantly thinks to themselves “how can I do unto others, as I wish they would do unto me”?
To be kind we ask questions like this…
What specifically can I do to help this person in need?
How can I be a means of comfort to that person who is grieving?
How can I encourage that person who seems to be struggling?
What can I do to demonstrate gratitude to that person who is serving?
But kindness doesn’t stop at the asking of those questions. Kindness also gets busy answering those questions with action.
Sadly, there are many weeds that grow up in our hearts that choke out the Spirit’s Fruit of Kindness. There are obvious ones like selfishness where instead of being moved outward toward others we are turned inward on ourselves. But then there are some not so obvious weeds that work against kindness.
Busyness smothers the fruit of kindness. Kindness requires thoughtfulness, which takes time and effort and mental energy. And the tangible act of Kindness takes time as well. But if we’re so busy that we can’t even spend time thinking or demonstrating kindness to someone, then we’re probably too busy. Think how busy Jesus was during his earthly ministry, how many demands and burdens were placed on him every moment of every day, yet he never told someone who called out to him “sorry, I’m busy right now.”
Also, a fear of man works against kindness. In an effort to do something kind, especially in relation to someone who is grieving, haven’t you caught yourself thinking “but what if I say the wrong thing, what if I buy the wrong flowers, write the wrong note, or what if they don’t like this meal”? Suddenly you feel paralyzed and crippled by what the other person might or might not think of you if you were to do this that you end up shutting down and doing nothing. On the one hand, we don’t want to be so insensitive to someone that we come in like a wrecking ball. On the other hand, we don’t want to be so sensitive to how we will be perceived that we decided “it’s best that I do nothing.” The worst thing you can do for someone hurting, struggling, or grieving is nothing. And the worst thing you can say is nothing. And often it’s a fear of man that keeps us from doing and saying something rather than reaching out in kindness.
In light of how we fall short of God’s calling to kindness, we need to regularly go before the Lord and confess our lack of kindness to him. Here is a prayer to help you do that:
Our Heavenly Father, who overflows with kindness,
Forgive us for the unkindness we have done to others and the kindness we have failed to do for others. Instead of being moved outward toward others, we have been focused inward on ourselves. In our busyness and fearfulness, we have failed to act in kindness toward our neighbor. Give us an eagerness and zeal to benefit others with Christ-like acts of kindness.
In the Name of Christ we pray, Amen.
In addition to confession, we need to run to the fountain of God’s kindness which is found in the Gospel of Christ:
When the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit… (Titus 3:4-5)
Regularly drinking from the fountain of God’s kindness to us in Christ is the spiritual refreshment that most helps us grow in kindness to others
