Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is…kindness.
What was it about God’s character that captured your heart when you first believed? Do you recall? For me, it was most certainly His kindness. In fact, God’s kindness was actually a stumbling block in those last few months before I was born again back in the Fall of 1994. I had come under tremendous conviction of the Holy Spirit regarding my sin. I had come to a full understanding of the Gospel itself, knowing why Jesus was the only way one could escape judgment and be guaranteed Heaven. I knew what was required of me—my full faith in His death, burial, and resurrection—and I wanted to be forgiven, but it just felt wrong to accept His offer. God’s kindness towards me, a sinner, just didn’t make any moral sense. I deserved condemnation BUT…God offered me forgiveness, compassion, love, and forgiveness.
My wretched, sinful record was met with God’s kindness?
Yes, it was, and God’s kindness led me to repentance and saving faith (Rom 2:4). Bible commentator C. Norman Bartlett says that kindness “is the spontaneous overflow of love in the heart. It is the spirit that would rather be hurt by others than hurt others. Would that more of us were as tenderhearted as we are thin-skinned, as impulsive in kindness as explosive in anger. We need to cultivate resourcefulness in kindliness, to gain proficiency in the artistry of applying Christian love to the hearts and lives of those with whom we come in contact in the multitudinous activities and relationships of life.”
Imagine if Christians were well known for our kindness!
Some of us are, I believe, but far too many of us struggle in this department. I know I do. The cares of the world, the moral degradation that surrounds us, the anti-Christian bias that is growing…it’s hard to respond with kindness rather than anger, but then again, isn’t that what God has chosen to do? His wrath is being stored up (Rom 2:5), and that is indeed a terrifying reality, but in the meantime, He responds to mankind’s endless transgressions with…kindness? Indeed, he does.
Jesus taught that we are to “love (our) enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return and (our) reward will be great, and (we) will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men” (Lk 6:35). The great American theologian Albert Barnes writes that kindness “is opposed to a harsh, crabbed, crooked temper. It is a disposition to be pleased; it is mildness of temper, calmness of spirit, an unruffled disposition, and a disposition to treat all with urbanity and politeness. This is one of the regular effects of the Spirit’s operations on the heart.” Is it one of the regular aspects of your Christian witness? I sure hope so.
