Kindness

The second of the fruits (or ‘grapes’ as we are referring to them) in the category of Action, is ‘kindness’. In the King James Version of Galatians 5:22, it is referred to as ‘gentleness’. Gentleness is an aspect of kindness, but it does not adequately describe what the word ‘kindness’ fully implies.

In I Corinthians 13:4, Paul writes "Love suffers long", showing that love is patient. This is followed by "and is kind", showing that love and kindness work together. When an act is done in love it will show kindness. Or one could say if kindness is not shown no act is truly done in love.

To show acts of kindness does not cost money. It may cost in time and energy, but sometimes not even that. Maybe just a smile would be in order—how much time will that take? Have you ever noticed how many smiles you can bring by smiling as you pass people on the street or in the store? Or maybe just a word of encouragement, or a visit or a phone call. One never knows to what depths a simple act of kindness showing God’s love can go. It can even have a ripple effect in touching lives, where one little kindness will keep on spreading. It is a way of sowing seeds that can only bear good fruit.

God loves us and shows it through kindness. He asks us to do this also, as we learn to manifest the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’.