West Park Baptist Church

kindness

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Abide: Kindness

Many times as a dad I’ve played the role of mediator in a spat between siblings. When it becomes impossible to figure out who started it or who the true victim is, I recall reaching the end of my resources in that moment and settle on the counsel, “Just be kind to each other!”

I wish that actually worked – just to give a command and see my kids walk in loving-kindness. It would be wonderful if all of us who quarrel and fight would end up like that 1971 Coca-cola commercial, on some hilltop singing together, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.” A simple act of kindness has great potential.

Of course life doesn’t happen that way. Telling someone to stop arguing and to be kind instead doesn’t work. At least not in my experience. Fighting, quarreling, coldness and bitterness, to name just a few of the relational sins, can’t be cracked or thawed merely by one kind act. A bottle of Coke hasn’t yet ended wars on Earth. Each of us who wish to walk in the Spirit and show the kindness of Christ need the power of our Lord in us, motivated by the loving-kindness He showed us.

How can we become the kind people that God wills us to be? Let me suggest a few things to think through.

  • Think about the kindness of God toward you. Romans 2:4 asks us, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (ESV).  After arguing in Romans 1 that all the Gentile world is lost in sin and deserving hell, Paul reminds the Roman church that the reason they escaped this judgment was the fact of God’s kindness toward them. God did not give any believers what we deserve, for that would be hell. He instead, in kindness and compassion, called us to be His chosen children, holy and beloved (Col. 3:12). Think long about what you deserve, and think now of what by God’s kindness you have. That is the motivator to compel your kindness toward others. It won’t happen merely by fulfilling a command. You can’t be kind enough to please God. He is pleased when we rest on His kindness to us in Christ. That abiding in Him begins the work of making us kind like He is kind.

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  • Consider who you can show kindness to right now. I love the story of King David remembering his covenant with Jonathan, son of King Saul. David asks, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” (2 Sam 9:1;3). He tracked down Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth and gave him a portion of the king’s own wealth. The story in 2 Samuel 9 ends with “So Mephibosheth… ate always at the king’s table.” I think of how earth-shattering the kindness of David was to Mephibosheth. He expected death but received the “kindness of God.” Who do you know that right now could be surprised by kindness? To whom can you show the kindness of God?

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  • Measure kindness not by random acts but by abiding acts. The series theme for these articles is “abide” and comes from John 15. When Jesus called on us to abide in Him and bear much fruit, He intended for us to abide in kindness toward one another. Our culture celebrates random acts of kindness: leaving 5 bucks in an envelope on a park bench, giving an unusually large tip, or mowing a neighbor’s yard by surprise. For the Christian such acts should not be random (“Where did that come from: that’s uncharacteristic of him/her!”) but abiding (“Wow! How can he/she be like that so often?”). Hopefully an abiding presence of kindness can turn our society around by pointing people beyond ourselves and to the Lord.

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  • Exercise kindness in all of its manifestations. One “kindness” passage really surprises me. It doesn’t seem like the others. Especially when “kindness” gets muddled in my brain with just being “nice.”  David says in Psalm 141:5 “Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.” Kindness shows up when we give, when we serve, when we forgive, but also when we enter a person’s messy life and speak a hard truth lovingly for that person’s healing and spiritual good. May the Lord give us all grace to grow in this area: expressing the kindness of open rebuke and receiving it humbly as a gift of the Lord.

I conclude today with Micah 6:8 –

He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (ESV)

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

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Counsel for the Heart: Bearing Spiritual Fruit (Gal. 5:22-23)

Would you like to know a guaranteed way to glorify God?

The Lord told us in John 15:8 –

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

We glorify God by bearing much fruit. Today we go back into Galatians 5:22-23 to examine more closely the fruit of the Spirit. By knowing what type of fruit the Holy Spirit produces we will grow in opportunities to glorify our Father. This is also our memory passage, so remember to meditate and memorize as you read today.

Galatians 5:22–23

[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)

Getting to the Heart:

One of the most helpful things we can do with this list of spiritual fruit is to understand what each part of the fruit means, what it replaces, and even what tends to be a counterfeit version of each part. I’ve been helped so much by the Bible study resource Galatians for You by Tim Keller1, and I’ve created a chart below based on his helpful explanation of the fruit of the Spirit.

Fruit  Definition Opposite Counterfeit
Love Love and care for a person based on their good, not on what they bring to you Self-protection; self-promotion Attraction for someone based on what they add to you or how they make you feel
Joy Happiness and delight in God for Who He is and what He does in the world Hopelessness; depression Happiness based on changing circumstances
Peace Confidence and rest in the sovereign wisdom and control of God Anxiety and fear Not caring about something; feeling indifferent
Patience The ability to stand up under the pressures of life without lashing out in anger toward God and others Resentment toward God and others Cynical lack of care
Kindness Motivation that serves others for their good in a practical way, out of a sense of complete inner security in Christ Envy; refusal to rejoice in another’s prosperity Serving others to ultimately manipulate them or prove to God or others our worth.
Goodness Also means integrity; being one person or the same person wherever you are Hypocrisy Speaking your mind and not holding back truth to make yourself feel better or look good
Faithfulness To be absolutely trustworthy and always true to your word Being a friend only in good times Being loving but never willing to confront when needed
Gentleness Humility, specifically self-forgetfulness, prioritizing others and responding calmly even when they are aggressive Attitude of superiority or self-absorption Spirit of inferiority, speaking ill about yourself
Self-control Ability to endure in hard times by focusing on the important not the urgent Impulsiveness or recklessness Willpower to endure difficulties to prove your worth or strength

Sometimes it’s necessary to slow down in our Bible reading and really dig in to specific words to better know the Lord’s message. This passage with this list is a case in point: we need to really understand these aspects of the Spirit’s fruit. It’s all so we can bear the fruit that brings joy and glory to our Father.

Today a group of men came to our home to cut down some trees that we had let grow over the years but that had become a nuisance. It is amazing how much more light, area to grow other things and even just to play in that the removal of those trees provided.

Walking in the Spirit is like that, I think. All of us have some motivating attitudes that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus came to deliver us from that ruling flesh that loves to assert self and sow destructive works. The Holy Spirit is the power to come in and chop those works down at their root level and open up your life to the light and freedom of God (Gal. 5:1).

Let’s talk it over:

  • Where are you seeing growth this week in the Spirit?
  • Do you see any opposites in your attitudes and actions?
  • Do you spot any counterfeits to the Spirit’s fruit?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we believe that it is for freedom that You came to set us free. That freedom is the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that the Spirit produces. This is the fruit we see in You, Lord. We love You because of who You are and how You shared that fruit with people all the time. There was never a time when You were not bearing fruit, and You are worthy of the greatest freedom and joy. Yet You took on our record of fleshly works and received the punishment for reckless, self-absorbed living that defied God and defiled our fellow man. Oh, we love and thank You for paying for those many many sins. But we love and thank You all the more that now You share Your Spirit with us so that we might walk with You and experience what You alone deserve. Help us to glorify our Father by bearing much fruit today. Amen.

Worship in Song:

His Mercy is More

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  1. Galatians for You resource by Tim Keller. Pages 141-142 used for the chart above.