“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness,
forbearance and patience, not realizing that
God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
Romans 2:4
Kindness, forbearance, and patience: all traits we want from those who love us – our spouse, children, parents, and friends. And those same traits are ones we endeavor to reciprocate.
If we all demonstrated kindness, forbearance, and patience, our homes, marriages, relationships, churches, neighborhoods, and communities would be marked by peace and harmony.
If we want to be kind today to our spouse, we might make his favorite dinner. To our child, it might mean setting aside the phone and playing with LEGOs or reading a book. Staying up past our own bedtime when he or she wants to talk might be kind to our teenager. The kindness desired by every mother of adult children is a phone call, and your pastor most likely would appreciate the kind affirmation of sharing his sermon on your Facebook page. To a friend with a new baby, it translates to a home-cooked meal delivered to her home. These days, it might take the form of picking up groceries so your elderly neighbor can avoid crowds.
We even refer to good deeds to strangers as “random acts of kindness.”
Kindness is a fruit of the spirit, but it’s often viewed as something thoughtful and sweet if we do it, but not really a bad thing if we don’t.
Kindness is considered optional.
It’s almost thought of as horizontal. If we think about it at all, we think about it in terms of our human relationships: spouse, children, parents, friends, neighbors, and even strangers.
When we think of kindness, we think of ways we demonstrate it to others and certainly appreciate the ways others show it to us.
When we think about the character traits God demonstrates to us, many come to mind: love, compassion, and mercy. We may think of God’s power and strength, as we think about Him being our provider, protector, rock, and refuge. We may recount many of these in our prayers of praise to Him.
But do we thank Him for His kindness? Is that a trait that comes to mind when we think of God?
And if we do contemplate God’s kindness, do we rattle of a list of physical blessings: home, food, job, insurance rebate, warning instead of speeding ticket, or your lost favorite jeans found?
But in God’s Kingdom, it means way more when viewed through a spiritual lens. To spin a famous phrase from a beloved movie, “That word means way more than you think it means.”
God’s kindness to us has an intended purpose: repentance. That means it is more than meeting physical needs – it brings on spiritual change. It brings conviction. The first time we respond to this conviction brings salvation. It was kind for Him to convict us of our sin! But His kindness continues as we are sanctified. As we respond with repentance, refinement happens.
The initial response to His kindness brought repentance to salvation. And every response since brings sanctification. As we process God’s divine kindness, our hearts and minds are challenged. We are forced to re-think our definition of what it means to be kind. As I re-examine my understanding of God’s kindness, I am also prompted to re-examine how I am expected to release Holy-Spirit-inspired kindness to others.
What if I had the same intention as God? What if my purpose for releasing kindness was to change the recipient? What if God wanted to use me to bring the recipient of my kindness to know Jesus or to grow closer to Jesus?
Wow.
This could mean, then, that the greatest opportunity to be kind and loving is when the recipient has hurt me, neglected me, or been unkind to me. Because when I respond kindly to harshness, conviction could happen. In those hard situations, the release of Christ-like kindness marks us as His disciples. It demonstrates unconditional love – rather than quid pro quo love.
Has God given you a KINDNESS opportunity? More than just a do-a-good-deed assignment, but an opportunity to truly be like Jesus. It will feel awkward. It will be walking in the opposite direction of where our flesh prompts us to go. It will require the power of the Holy Spirit – that’s why it is a fruit of the Spirit. It cannot be accomplished on our own.
To walk this out, we must:
⇒ Pray.
⇒ Check our motives.
⇒ Pray some more.
⇒ Act.
When God provides the privilege of releasing divine kindness that could lead to repentance, we must walk it out in His strength, without judgment to the recipient, with no self-righteousness, and with no expectation of praise or gratitude. We release it with the joyful hope of repentance in the undeserving recipient – knowing we, too, are wholly undeserving of the kindness we have received.
Are you ready to take kindness to a whole new level? Let’s do it!
Join us for the remaining days of April as we finish
Write The Word: Character Traits of God …
and be sure to come back Thursday to download
the May installment of our Write The Word series!
Please visit the A Reason For website to learn more about their excellent homeschooling resources!
