Love Is Kind

Alba 10-12-2025

LOVE IS KIND

I Corinthians 13:4

Some years ago the “Dear Abby” column printed this letter: “Dear Abby, My mother used to be very critical of other family members, but always behind their backs. Any relative who visited her had to listen to endless bad mouthing of 'what's wrong with so and so.'

“One day, one of her grandsons came for a visit. As soon as grandmother started her usual criticizing, he said, 'Now, Grandma, you have 20 minutes to say nasty things about all the people I love, and then we're going to talk about pleasant things.' She was dumbfounded! She did not say anything at all for a full minute, and she didn't use her allotted 20 minutes to bad mouth anybody. As a matter of fact, after that, she changed dramatically, and today she's the sweetest old lady you can imagine!”

First Corinthians is a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, a community faced with divisions and moral challenges. Paul wrote to offer guidance and correction to help unify the believers and encourage them to live according to the love demonstrated by Christ. And in verse four of I Corinthians chapter 13 Paul adds to the description of love saying, love is kind. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines kindness as “having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others; wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others.”

Our world needs more kindness. Every day there are more and more examples of just how cruel people can be to one another. Our society is filled with things like road rage, revenge hit lists, and senseless shootings. Can we really make a difference in our society? The answer is yes and the difference that we can make begins with being examples of simple Christian kindness. So what does that look like?

Kindness is Love in Action

The German philosopher, Nietzsche, who so influenced Hitler, looked at the Christian world and said that Christianity strips strong men of their power because Christianity encourages people to be kind. They spend their energy trying to take care of the feeble and oppressed. Nietzsche said, “If we could rid the world of Christianity then we could develop supermen.” Nietzsche and all who think like him are wrong, because kindness is powerful. Kindness is love in action.

If one is looking for a man, a real man, scripture has it right when it says in Proverbs 19:22 “What is desired in a man is kindness”. Even non-Christians are able to show kindness. In Acts 28:2 we read that after Paul and all the other prisoners had survived the shipwreck, and made it safe to the island of Malta, “the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.”

Here was a pagan people showing Paul and the others great kindness which they very much needed. If non-Christians are able to show kindness, it should definitely be exhibited by those of us who live under the banner of Jesus. And kindness is not merely passive or about being nice; it involves tangible actions that demonstrate care and compassion. Kindness is basically an expression of love practiced in action. Besides that, it is good for you to show kindness.

The Mayo Clinic Health System had an on-line article two years ago entitled “The Art of Kindness”. It contends that kindness is good for the body. Here is what it says: “Kindness has been shown to increase self-esteem, empathy and compassion, and improve mood. It can decrease blood pressure and cortisol, a hormone directly correlated with stress levels. People who give of themselves in a balanced way also tend to be healthier and live longer. Kindness can increase your sense of connectivity with others, decrease loneliness, combat low mood and improve relationships... Looking for ways to show kindness can give you something to focus on, especially if you are anxious or stressed in certain social situations.”

The article also said that kindness is good for the mind saying, “Physiologically, kindness can positively change your brain by boosting levels of serotonin and dopamine. These neurotransmitters produce feelings of satisfaction and well-being, and cause the pleasure and reward centers in your brain to light up. Endorphins, your body's natural painkiller, also may be released when you show kindness.”

(Mayo Clinic Health System, Speaking of Health Thursday, August 17, 2023, The art of kindness by Steve Siegle is a licensed professional counselor in Psychiatry & Psychology in Menomonie, Wisconsin.)

But of course, we should not be kind out of selfish reasons. Because kindness is not only good for us, it is good for others.. Consider the story Jesus told about the Good Samaritan. While others walked on by, the Samaritan felt pity and concern for the man. But the Good Samaritan’s pity didn’t stop with just feeling for the man, he did something about it. The Good Samaritan put love into action – he ministered to the man’s wounds and then took the man to where he could get more help. Remember love is kind; in other words, love takes action and finds its expression through kindness. Kindness will give, kindness will share, and kindness supplies what is lacking or needed.