THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS KINDNESS—GALATIANS 5:22-26;
HOSEA 2:14-23; AND LUKE 6:27-36
As soon as I began preparations for today’s message, the Lord called to my mind the lyrics of Glen Campbell’s song “Try a Little Kindness”:
If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed;
And if you see your sister falling by the way,
Just stop and say, “You’re going the wrong way.”
You got to try a little kindness.
Yes, show a little kindness;
Just shine your light for everyone to see;
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.
Don’t walk around the down and out;
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt;
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way.
You got to try a little kindness.
Yes, show a little kindness;
Just shine your light for everyone to see;
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.
“The Fruit of the Spirit is Kindness.” “One day a student asked anthropologist Margaret Mead for the earliest sign of civilization in a given culture. He expected the answer to be a clay pot or perhaps a fish hook or grinding stone. Her answer was, “a healed femur.’ Mead explained that no healed femurs are found where the law of the jungle, survival of the fittest reigns. A healed femur shows that someone cared. Someone had to do that injured person’s hunting and gathering until the leg healed. The evidence of compassion is the first sign of civilization” God’s Word often calls us to the ministry of kindness. As Disciples of Jesus Christ we can make a difference in the lives of others by being kind.
In Scripture the word kindness stems from a root that means, “To furnish what is needed.” Keep that in mind, as I want to come back to it soon. Kindness is caring for others. It is to show interest in their happiness, well-being, and feelings. Sometimes we think of kindness in terms of pity or sympathy, but kindness on the part of the Christian Disciple is much wider in scope. You see, it is not enough to simply express feelings of sympathy for those who hurt; a kind disciple sees the hurt, the pain, the distress, the discomfort of others and takes action to alleviate the suffering. A kind Christian is not satisfied by simply offering words of encouragement; he or she takes action and helps. Kindness “furnishes what is needed.”
As with all the other Fruit of the Spirit, kindness is rooted in the character of God. One of the greatest promises in the Old Testament is the one shared by the Psalmist in Psalm 145:8,
“The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and rich in love.”
If you are familiar with computers and the internet, you understand the principle of links. A link is “a relationship or connection that exists between people or things.” If you are surfing the World Wide Web, you may come to a particular site that gives you links to other related sites of interest. All you have to do is “clink” on a particular link, and you will go to the related site.
There are many Christian attributes that are linked or related to kindness, and one we often find is compassion. The Lord is kind, or in the words of the Psalmist, “the Lord is compassionate in that He is “slow to anger and rich in love.” The purpose of God’s kindness is to lead people to repent, to bring sinners back to Him.
We see this clearly in Hosea, Chapter Two. Hosea’s adulterous wife Gomer symbolizes Israel and represents each one of us sinners. God’s kindness is seen in His “alluring her, speaking tenderly to her.” He reveals His kindness in leading the sinner to repentance in verse 19:
“I will betroth you to Me forever;
I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
In love and compassion.”
His kindness brings individuals to repentance in verse 23:
“. . . I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not My loved one.’
I will say to those called ‘Not My people,’ ‘You are My
People’”
And they will say, ‘You are My God.’”
The Lord is kind; the Lord is compassionate in that He draws repentant sinners back into fellowship with Him. His kindness is seen again in Romans 2:4, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”
God’s kindness is unlimited; He is friendly even to His enemies, and Jesus commands us to do likewise in Luke 6:35-36, “But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Because God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked, we are called to show His same mercy to them as well. By the power of the Holy Spirit ministering through us, we can be kind even when our kindness is neither acknowledged nor appreciated.
Jesus is the personification of kindness. Remember kindness and compassion are so often linked with each other. The New Testament has three basic words for compassion, but the word most often used and the only one used for expressing the compassion of Jesus has a unique history. Originally it meant the “inner parts of the body.” It referred to the “center of human emotions,” particularly to pity, compassion, and love.
Jesus was always reaching out to anyone who hurt, was in pain, experienced distress or discomfort. He always relieved their suffering and turned their lives around. He always responded with compassion. He reached out His hand in compassion to heal a leper who nobody else would dare touch. When the 5,000 that He fed first came to Him, Matthew tells us Jesus “had compassion on them and healed their sick” [Matthew 14:14], while Mark says He “had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd” [Mark 6:34]. When He returned from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, He encountered a Father who had brought His demon possessed son to the other nine disciples for healing. The Father made a simple request of Jesus, “Take pity on us, or show compassion for us, and help us” [Mark 9:22]. When he was leaving Jericho one day, two blind men cried out to Him, and “He had compassion on them and touched their eyes” [Matthew 20:34]. In Luke 7:13 we see Jesus’ unending compassion in His meeting with the Widow of Nain, who was on her way to bury her only son: “When the LORD saw her, His heart went out to her, and He said, ‘Don’t cry.’”
Those whom Jesus touched in compassion and kindness would never be the same again. His personal touch of kindness was a turning point in their lives. Recall again the words of I Peter 2:21 that we shared last week: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” We must follow Jesus in personal acts of kindness in our relationships with others, even those who are our enemies and those who will not be grateful for our ministry.
The Lord wants to make a difference in our world today through our acts of kindness as Paul makes clear in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” We’ve already seen that kindness is linked with compassion.
All the Fruit of the Spirit are linked with each other. Here again Paul links kindness with compassion, patience, humility, gentleness, forgiveness, and above all else love. All the “Fruit of the Spirit” are inseparably cemented with each other by the “super glue” of love. As we follow “in His steps”, “as we walk in the power of the Holy Spirit,” we can be turning points in the lives of people who suffer pain, distress, discomfort. We can be the Holy Spirit’s change agents to ease human suffering and turn lives around.
“In CONSPIRACY OF KINDNESS, Steve Sjogren (pronounced “SHOW-GREN”) tells the true story of Joe Delaney and his eight-year-old son, Jared, who were playing catch in their backyard.
“Jared asked, ‘Dad, is there a God?’
“Joe replied that he went to church only a few times when he was a kid; he really had no idea.
“Jared ran into the house. ‘I’ll be right back!’ he yelled.
“Moments later he returned with a helium balloon from the circus, a pen, and an index card. ‘I’m going to send God an airmail message,’ Jared explained: ‘Dear God,’ wrote Jared, ‘if You are real, and You are there, send people who know you to Dad and me.’
“‘God, I hope You’re watching,’ Joe thought, as they watched the balloon and message sail away.
“Two days later, Joe and Jared pulled into a wash sponsored by Sjogren’s church. When Joe asked, ‘How much?’ Sjogren answered, ‘It’s free. No strings attached. We just want to show God’s love in a practical way.’
“‘Are you guys Christians, the kind of Christians who believe in God?’ Joe asked.
“Sjogren said, ‘Yes, we’re that kind of Christians.’ From that encounter, Steve led Joe to faith in Christ. Many people may be only one act of kindness from meeting a true Christian.”
Be that kind of Christian, ask the Holy Spirit to show you one person with whom you can make a difference by sharing the kindness of Jesus. He will guide you in sharing His kindness, compassion, and love in practical ways that can turn people around for eternity. He will open your eyes to see a need, to care for that need, and to set that person on a new path in life. As Disciples of Jesus Christ we can make a difference in the lives of others by being kind:
“You got to try a little kindness.
Yes, show a little kindness;
Just shine your light for everyone to see;
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.”
