Kindness is the quality of being generous and considerate. Other definitions speak of goodwill and care. How wonderful the world would be if everyone was kind.
The Bible uses many different words as synonyms for being kind. “Compassionate” and “good” are a few. A compassionate Christian or one who is good to others is walking in kindness.
Proverbs 21:21 ESV says whoever pursues righteousness and kindness finds life, righteousness, and honor. God is saying when you walk in righteousness and kindness, you reap the returns of righteousness along with life and honor.
Almost around the year, different organizations raise campaigns pushing that people should be kinder to one another. A few kind words could save a person from suicide or from making terrible decisions. Kindness is encouraged and maybe even mandated–if I do say so myself–for every believer. If the world preaches kindness, shouldn’t church loud it more?
“Be kind to one another…”
Ephesians 4:32 ESV
Why is it important to show kindness?
A good answer to this would be “because the bible says so”. But I understand that for some people this is not enough. I also understand that it is easier to run with a vision when you understand it.
Think back to those movies we used to watch when we were younger, where there is a very wicked person who is afflicted. The person then becomes paranoid that anyone may be the cause of their problem. They think back to the market woman they insulted, the child they hit for no reason, the man they cursed at on the road, and because of this, they lose their peace because they feel they are being watched.
In real life, you really don’t need to do anything to anyone before they decide to be mean to you. But when you are kind to everyone around you, you have a clearer conscience. Your prayers won’t sound troubled and even in problems you will have peace because, unlike the person who is seeing it as karma, you are seeing it as a trial that God is using to build your faith. Proverbs 11:17 says that a man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. You give yourself the benefits of peace and a clear conscience when you’re kind to others.
Just a few kind words would have kept some people in the faith. If we can use our words to bring people to Christ then we best believe that we can do the same to chase them away from Christ. Some people will tell you the church failed them because when they were desperately in need of some form of kindness, the church did not show it to them. The devil is very manipulative and so he takes such opportunities and makes the “most” out of them.
It is a misrepresentation of Jesus Christ when it is heard that a person could not find kindness in church but found it in the world…even if the person is a terrible sinner. No one in the world was ready to show that adulteress kindness…or fairness, in the least. But when she was brought to Jesus, with only a few words, He was able to get her going on the right track. We can depopulate hell and populate the kingdom of God when we are kind to others. (Jn. 8:1-11)
Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Colossians 4:6 KJV
Growing up, we realized that many of the religious people around us were far from what an ideal Christian should be. They were full of wickedness and hate, yet they would speak in the most beautiful tongues you ever heard and they would lay hands on the sick and the sick would recover. How? Shouldn’t every Christian be kind? The answer is yes. But it doesn’t exactly work that way.
Kindness is not something conferred on you as soon as you believe. It is something you work towards every day, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Just like the gifts of the Holy Spirit that everyone has, it must be stirred and built up. The innate human nature is to be wicked, avenge evil for evil, and do things to people just because you feel like it, whether it is right or not. That has been the pattern for generations now, leading up to major world-stopping events like World War 2.
What a Christian must do is understand this reality: Everyone is capable of wickedness. However, they must let their new reality override the old by confessing and working towards kindness. The Bible on one side says the heart of man is desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). This is the natural reality every man, believer or not, has to face. But then again, it says we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). This is the new nature reality we have now received which we must act upon every day.
Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. One of the things that every believer receives the ability to do is to be kind (Gal. 5:22). Be intentional about being kind. Many times, it won’t come easy but be intentional about it. Other times, you may have forgotten to show kindness but regular word-guided reflections will reveal to you things you can do better and statements you can word better, all to ensure kindness is all that you give out.
The world needs kind people and every believer should be what the world needs.
If God has been so kind to us, shouldn’t we express our gratitude by paying it forward? Moreover, nothing spells love like kindness does. God is love, whoever does not love does not know Him (1 Jn. 4:7-12). If we say we know God then we must be full of love, in deed and in truth. And the doing aspect of love starts with kindness.
Love is kind
1 Corinthians 13:4
Take a moment to reflect on how kind God has been to you and how you can show this kindness to others. Think about things you can say or must stop saying to become a kinder person. Think of how you can show kindness to someone today.
P.S.: Christ-standard of kindness is irregardless. That is, regardless of how the person treats you what they have said, or how you feel, you still show it anyway.
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