Kindness is the Fruit of God’s Love In Us

OPENING PRAYER:

Lord, this week as we consider the portion of the Fruit of the Spirit called kindness help me understand the full ramification of being a person who demonstrates kindness. Amen

READ:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4

“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

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14

REFLECT:

Several years ago, when I was teaching at San Jose Bible College (SJBC), I had the opportunity to visit a peach orchard. The owner of the orchard was giving the culled peaches to the SJBC staff. The pickers had a board with holes in it that the peaches had to go through for commercial sale and canning companies. Those that we got were very large and excellent, but they did not meet the set standard. They were delicious and way too good to be thrown away. Colossians sets the standard or plum line to measure the fruit of kindness. According to Colossians 3:12-14 it is to be combined with compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience and bound together with love which is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4. Let us look at the plumbline (as defined by Wikipedia): 1. Kindness- Aristotle defined it as “helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper.” 2. Compassion motivates people to go out of their way to help relieve the physical, mental, or emotional pains of another and themselves. 3. Humility is a form of temperance that is neither prideful (haughty) nor indulging in self-deprecation. 4. Gentleness responds with a tender awareness of others’ experiences and pain. 5. Patience is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding with disrespect/anger.

APPLY:

This week as we explore the portion of the Fruit of the Spirit called kindness we need to do as the peach orchard farmer did. We need to evaluate ourselves by the standard for kindness as set out in Colossians 3:12-14. If we find ourselves coming up short, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we work to overcome our deficiencies in demonstrating kindness to others.

CLOSING PRAYER:

Loving father, Thank you for calling us to a spirit of kindness and gentleness. In a world where the loudest and the angriest take up all the air, you've commanded us to lead out with a gentle spirit of love. This does not mean we are to sit back and remain complacent, rather it means it calls us to servant leadership that will speak for itself. Teach us to be humble, full of warmth and Christlike tenderness as we walk through life. Through your spirit, lead us to move in compassion. Amen.

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