A Deeper Study of the Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness
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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Kindness is a word that can often mean different things to different people. If I were to ask you what kindness means, what would you say?
I once served in the Kindness room for the children’s ministry at our church. They named each room after a fruit of the Spirit. I found it humorous that each room really connected with any area that is needed for that room. For instance, the newborns were love, the 2’s named patience, and my classroom – the 3’s – was named kindness. At the age of 3, children are really discovering their voices and desiring more independence. Often unkind words or actions were performed by these children. I had in the back of my mind to model kindness to them. They needed to experience and see the genuine love of Christ shown to them.
Today, we will continue our study on the fruit of the Spirit. I recently received an encouraging email with the great reminder that the word fruit is singular. I want to affirm that all of these characteristics are accessed by the Holy Spirit. We have all of them because we have Jesus. They are all the fruit of a Christian’s life. Today we will focus on the specific area of kindness in our lives.
Kindness in the Greek
The Greek word found in Galatians 5:22 is chrēstotēs. It means, “gentleness, goodness, kindness. From chrestos; usefulness, i.e. Morally, excellence (in character or demeanor).”
Chrēstotēs appears in two other Scripture verses:
“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22).
“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7).
Kindness Is a Noun
The word kindness is a noun. It is something that a person possesses. God is kindness; there is no unkindness found in Him. The amazing part of the gospel is that we are unkind. We have thought, lived out, and said unkind things in our lives. We are sinful. God is not. He has thought, lived out, and said kind things.
You might be thinking about times in the Bible when God has disciplined or even wiped out much of humanity because of evil. How could He still be kind? Since kindness is a noun, it is who He is and it leads Him to action.
Kindness is justice. Think about a horrible legal case that you know of right now. What injustices have taken place? Kindness and sternness are revealed in Romans 11:22. He is kind, but He is also stern. He is stern because He is kind. Just as He is love, but He is just.
Kindness Leads to Action and Good Deeds
Titus 3:4-7 reveals the kindness of God through the gift of salvation to all who believe in Him. It beautifully says in verse 4, “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared.”
His kindness came to us. Jesus, the incarnate deity, came to earth to show us the greatest act of kindness and love on the cross at Calvary. Death was defeated and not only that, by the Holy Spirit we too can have access to the fruit of kindness. We can live out and be kind to others in a way that is out of this world. This means that we can live with attitudes of willingness, character and discipline. We can go out of our way to bless other people with our time, words, finances, and prayers.
When someone is living out sinful or hurtful ways, we can show the kindness – the mercy of God – that He has shown to us. This is an impossible task in our own strength. We are only able to show kindness because we have received Christ’s kindness. Matthew 5:43-44 says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Love motivates us to be kind. We can only show acts of kindness to our enemies and those who hate us by the power of the Spirit and the Word of God changing our hearts and lives. When we realize that we did not deserve kindness from God, but punishment, we are much more aware of how small a task it is in comparison to show kindness out of His love to others. We have been given much.
Is Kindness Acceptance or Support?
A lot of times in today’s culture, kindness can be attached to the concept of acceptance and support. Everything is about “you do you” or “what you feel is truth for you.” We have a very individualistic culture. This is dangerous. It abuses kindness. It takes kindness out of the context of what God intended.
Kindness is not tolerance; kindness is truth in love. Kindness is mercy. Kindness is not above the boundaries of the law that the Lord has set into place for our good and His glory. Kindness is living out the gospel that we have all sinned and fall short of His glory, but Jesus came to us, (God in flesh) to make a way to be sin for us so we could have His righteousness.
The definition of kindness includes Moral excellence. If we have no morals because each person decides his own morals, then we have no standard and there is no true kindness. Kindness is living above a standard. It is moral excellence. Moral values matter, so when anyone tries to attach a concept created by God and twists it into what they would like it to be, this is wrong. It is sin. Kindness leads to righteousness.
We can still be kind to people we disagree with though. This is the whole point of Matthew 5:43-44. Kindness is not equivalent to agreeing with someone else, it is a matter of showing sacrificial love through our thoughts, words, and deeds. This means if a man hates Jesus and you, then you can be kind to him by praying for him, saying kind words, and showing him the love of Christ. This means if someone lives opposite from God’s Bible, you can still be friends, show kind deeds, encourage him and pray for him.
Romans 2:4 says it best, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
The kindness of Jesus has led us to repentance. Our hope and prayer is that when we live out the fruit of kindness to others, that it too will lead them to repentance and freedom in Christ. May His kindness be what we think on, speak out, and show to all we encounter.
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