Galatians 5:22, 23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
I remember meeting an aunt for the first time and wondering what it was about her that was so different. She had my attention from the moment I met her because something about her made me want to be around her. It wasn’t until when I was having a discussion with someone who was acquainted with her that I realized that what I noticed about my aunt was her kindness. That was what was so different and amazing about her, her kindness.
Kindness unfortunately is a rare commodity. Many people already believe that “nice people finish last” and often take kindness to mean weakness, so it is easy to see why a lot of people don’t practice kindness.
We have all come across people who are caustic in their attitude and speech and at those times even though we know they may be speaking the truth to us, it is just that much harder to take in what they are saying because we don’t feel their love or understanding. When we don’t apply kindness, our actions can be misunderstood and rejected even when we mean well. No wonder we are often instructed in the bible to be kind and tenderhearted to one another. It is not enough to instruct and correct one another but it is also important to do so with kindness. Kindness is the expression of the other fruit of the spirit.
Kindness is not just about our words, the bible says we should not just show love in words but through our actions because love is also kind. Jesus was kind to all those He met. Even when the Jewish culture at that time looked down on non Jewish people and all those who were considered unclean we still see that Jesus went beyond culture to show compassion to the disenfranchised. Jesus is our example and Lord in every way and we must imitate Him in all we do. So, do you help others when they are down or are you the first to let them know why they are so helpless? Do you give to others out of kindness or do you feel like giving to others is more of an obligation? It is never too late to be kind and you can never be over kind. It doesn’t matter if others think you are weak, let kindness rather than recognition, obligation or fear drive your actions towards others.
Kindness, like many of the other fruit of the spirit is not easy to exhibit especially when you are dealing with difficult people or when you are dealing with difficulties yourself. It takes divine intervention to continue to be kind when it is not being reciprocated or when there is no recognition for it. This is why we need to let the Holy Spirit work out kindness in us. We need to let Him produce the fruit of compassion for others so that we are able to be effective for the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 4:32 “And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”
2 Peter 1:7 “And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”
Matthew 9:36 “When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Temitope Talabi is a founding member of The Trent Voices currently reside in Austin, TX. She graduated with a PharmD from Texas Southern University in Houston, TX. She works as a community pharmacist and spends her spare time writing to build and encourage others through the word of God. Temitope is also currently working on a series of self-help books created to empower people to take charge of their health and wellness, the first of which is scheduled to be released early next year.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
