Fruits of the Spirit: Be kind to each other
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Kindness is related to gentleness and goodness. The three all join together to give us a vision of Christ and His love for us, how he treats us. His unconditional caring for us.
Christ Himself said:
Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don’t be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked.
Luke 6:35
Doesn’t every word of that go against human nature? Love those who want to destroy us? How? Why? But the reality is that God loves us in spite of ourselves, and that is what we are called to do. Easier said that done, huh?
Now don’t think for one minute that we as Christians aren’t allowed to defend ourselves against those who would harm us. This verse doesn’t mean that we sit back passively and allow someone to destroy us. But we must love them, not hate them. Hate doesn’t destroy those who hurt us, it destroys us! So in Christian kindness, we must love them even as we set boundaries to protect ourselves.
Genuine kindness, true kindness that comes as a gift of the spirit, is our response to God’s love in us.
If people persecute you because you are a Christian, don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.
Romans 12:14
We may not truly love the person. One person alone may not be able to have that capacity, but the body of Christ, the Christian community, can.
Find those that need your love. Those that are lost, consumed by anger. Be kind to them. Love them as Christ loves us.
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