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Kindness – Session Six
In this session of Walking in the Light study the characteristic of Kindness and the role it plays in our Christian life.
We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world – right up to this moment.
1 Corinthians 4:12–13
Love is patient, love is kind.
1 Corinthians 13:4
Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way… in purity, understanding, patience and kindness…
2 Corinthians 6:4, 6
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Galatians 5:22–23
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32
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.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossians 3:12–17
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
2 Timothy 2:24
Keeping the discipline of kindness in all circumstances is one of the most exacting and demanding aspects of practising our faith. It means letting go of a witty putdown or a chance to vindicate ourselves. It means passing up the chance to humiliate people who have been mean to us.
Kindness makes us go out of our way when it’s inconvenient, not letting it
show when we are bored, sitting with the ones others have rejected as companions, listening to the interminable stories of the old, missing out on interesting conversations to get down on the floor and play with a child who feels ignored and left out.
Truth without kindness is deadly. Righteousness without kindness is chilling.
A home or marriage without kindness cannot be happy.
How blessed are the children whose parents are kind, the congregations whose pastors are kind, the animals whose husbandmen are kind.
Without kindness, life is grim and lonely, hardly worth living.
A workaday, ordinary virtue, not designed to get anybody noticed, kindness is a jewel indeed, a fruit of the Spirit, a most precious manifestation of the presence of God.
We thank you, God of love, for being so kind to us. When we were lost, you did not give up on us but brought us home. When we were afraid, you stayed with us and restored our peace. You came to us in Jesus and gave us a living hope and life in abundance. You have poured out blessing upon blessing to gladden our lives. Thank you, God of love, for your kindness. By your grace, may our hearts and minds be renewed in the likeness of Jesus, so that when others look upon our faces, they see his kindness in our eyes. For we ask it in his holy name; Amen.
