The Much-Misunderstood Quality of Kindness
The Bulletin, 1/21/26
Kindness is one of those words that requires us to be extra careful to define our terms. Everybody agrees it’s a wonderful thing. Clothing stores sell shirts that simply say “Be Kind” or “Kindness is a superpower” or “Kindness is Free: Sprinkle it everywhere.”
While that seems like a great thing, it really should raise a red flag. Any time you see a rebellious world give a wholesale endorsement to an idea, something is up.
Their working definition of the word seems to be “the quality of making people feel good about themselves.” So, to them, “kindness” would have us agree with every lifestyle, cheering on whatever decisions a person makes in order to boost their self esteem.
Biblical kindness
In Romans 2:4, we read that God’s kindness leads people to repentance. Does this mean God affirms all of our choices? Does it mean He refuses to tell us truth to preserve our feelings? Is it just a general “niceness”? Not hardly. So, what does it mean?
God’s kindness toward us is a willingness to do whatever is objectively in our best interest. It was in our best interest for Christ to die for us, so He did. It was in our best interest for God to be patient toward us and lovingly call us to repent, so He did. It was in our best interest for God to tell us the truth about our sinfulness and our need for Him, so He did.
As we sow to the Spirit (Galatians 6:7-8), the fruit of kindness will result. We will be people who go out of our way to help others. We will be encouragers. We will be burden-bearers. None of this will come at the expense of truth; rather, it will stand firmly on the foundation of truth to define the good that God would have us do.
The world needs more kind people—real kind people—and our walk with God will prepare us to be just that.
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