Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

Please continue with us in our examination of those characteristics which Paul deems manifestations of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 with "kindness:"

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

The word translated here as "kindness" (translated also as "goodness" in the KJV) is the Greek word chrestotes, defined by Thayer's as "moral goodness, integrity; benignity, kindness."

This term is used to refer to the kindness of God toward men (Romans 2:3-4, Romans 11:22, Ephesians 2:7).

But when the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).

Kindness is also an attribute that ought to mark the Christian, as Paul makes evident:

Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering (Colossians 3:12).

Perhaps one of the greatest demonstrations of our hope and faith in Christ is by the performing of acts of kindness. An act of kindness is a demonstration of love and belief, not merely the profession thereof. We live in a time when there are more "professors" of religion but very few who will actually bear the burdens of Jesus Christ. Such a person is commended in James 1:25:

But he that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth but a doer that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing.

Displaying a kind attitude and performing acts of kindness are not necessarily the easiest or most convenient duties of a Christian, but many times these acts and attitudes are more effective at bringing people to Christ than long evangelism campaigns. When we show kindness to others, we are merely the conduit for the kindness that God has shown to all men by giving us this world to live in and His Son so that we may have life in the hereafter. Our fellow man may not deserve our kindness, yet did we deserve the lovingkindness of God? Since God has demonstrated such great kindness to us through Christ Jesus our Lord, ought we not show to our fellow man kindness also? Let us think on these things, and be kind as God is kind!

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at evangelist@norwalkchurch.org.

Please click here to return to the 2008 archive of Good News for Norwalk, or click here to return to the main page of Good News for Norwalk. Thanks!