by The Howitzer
When we lived in Little Rock, we had some good friends that truly impacted our thinking related to what we should teach our children to become. We did not have children at the time but loved to hang around couples that did. They had a little girl who was probably 4 or 5 at the time who was a delight to be around. I don’t remember the specific circumstances surrounding the comment (I think maybe we had brought her a little gift or something) but her response was not the typical thank you that kids are begrudged to give but rather a thoughtful comment that we still remember to this day. Her comment was “Thank you, that was very kind”. I remember how cute it sounded to have such a little one evaluating life through her mother’s words. Kindness. What a big word! What a great concept! What a great character trait to add to your list of things to aspire to! What a great thing to try to help your children build into their lives!
This morning as I was working through my Bible reading, I happened upon a great verse that stood out to me. In Luke 6:35-36, Jesus says, “35 but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
If there were any group that it would be justifiable to be mean to it would be the ungrateful and wicked. Yet, it is to this very group that our Father in heaven is kind to.
What does it mean to be kind?
Dictionary.com defines kindness this way
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1. |
of a good or benevolent nature or disposition, as a person: a kind and loving person. |
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2. |
having, showing, or proceeding from benevolence: kind words |
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3. |
indulgent, considerate, or helpful; humane (often fol. by to):to be kind to animals. |
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I think Jesus’ illustration of loving your enemies and doing good to them takes the concept of kindness out of the realm of tea parties and nice words. This active goodness toward ungrateful and wicked people elevates the idea of kindness to a contact sport. Kindness is not for the faint of heart or the weak of will. To do good to the challenging people around us takes courage and discipline of spirit.
I don’t know about you, but I know very few people who I would consider kind as a central characteristic. Most people I know are guilty of random acts of kindness. But, to find someone who has as their central disposition a spirit of kindness is rare. People like Mother Theresa are thought of in this way. Yet, I know that one of the characteristics that should be true of a follower of Jesus is kindness. In fact, one of the fruits of the Spirit is kindness. What will it take to move from random acts of kindness to a disposition of kindness? Even more to be known as a kind person. That’s the kind of person we should aspire to be.
We lost track of these friends when we moved away and I have often wondered how the little girl grew up. She is probably in her early 20s by now. I wonder if she is a kind person today. I know she inspired me to be one. How about you? What “kind” of person are you?
photo by gregor_y
