Kindness: Real Power In A Mean World

Luke 6:43 – “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit”

Galatians 5:22-23 is one of the most memorized scriptures in the bible. This scripture speaks of the fruit that comes out of being part of Jesus and having the Spirit within. It lists many different “fruits” that should be produced from us. So let’s discuss the fruit and what they should truly look like in our lives.

The Fruit Of Kindness

We are now on the fruit of “kindness” in this series; so let’s take a look at a few examples of how we practically see kindness (or should see it) in our daily lives to start with.

Honey…

The old saying “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” is a true statement. It means that being sweet instead of a little rude or snarky causes more people to come to you.

Now, since part of the goal in God (Matthew 28:18-20) is to bring people from the nations to God. How can we do this if we are not kindly socializing with people?

Love…

How often is love shown through being short with someone? How can you love someone while not giving them some time to communicate with you?

We are called to care for one another and this means that we are to take care of each other. We are called to be our brother’s keeper which means we have to do them the kindness of communicating with and looking after them through acts of kindness.

Children…

How many children do we know that don’t need kindness? None.

How many children do we know who have been damaged by the lack of kindness? Too many.

I watch Criminal Minds and I have a psych minor that gives me some perspective on children and their maturation. Through both, the discussion often comes down to how the child was raised.

We have to be kind to everyone and especially children because God told us to not stop children from coming to him (Matt 19:14). In that scripture, Jesus says the Kingdom belongs to “such as these.” Now, do not take that literally my friends. He is saying that the Kingdom belongs to people (and children) who are like most kids. Those who are instinctually curious, kind, and welcoming like most children are.

The Big Question(s)

Now, I will admit that I have found one thing in the scripture that is hard to consolidate with being kind: How can we be expected to be kind when Jesus said in Matt 10:34 that He came to bring a sword to the world, and not peace?

Well, the answer is pretty simple, faith.

What does faith have to do with this? God knows that a struggle is going to come if we are to follow His Son, but if we have faith then we can be kind because we know His reward will be so much more.

Another small question is the difference between “love” and “kindness”.

Kindness is an action that we take in everything we do. A service to others, you could say. It shows that we are equipped to deal with others personally while love is what we are called to do and feel towards others even when we don’t understand them or maybe even prefer them.

So brothers, love everyone (even the difficult ones) and be kind when you interact with others because we are called to be an example of Jesus.

The gospel of Jesus is the sword that divides (and also conquers), but our sword to fight with is one of kindness. In a rough and generally unkind world, this sets us apart and conquers in a different way than the world does.

So go, my brothers, and fight with the sword, the sword of kindness.