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Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness and Goodness
Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness and Goodness
Paul wrote: “ 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, Patience, kindness, and goodness,…”
I believe all of us know what it is to be kind and good. We all know some good people and some kind ones.
Today I would like to read a story Jesus told that I feel demonstrated someone who was very kind. Read the following story as seen in Luke 10:25-37
“25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
I really feel that as we talk about being kind, you can’t help but talking about being good. They seem to go together hand in hand.
– Being good refers to what we are or the quality of our character.
– Being kind also can refer to our character and can also refer to what a good person does by being kind to others.
How GOOD are you?
If you want to know a reasonable gauge or measure for how good you are look at how kind you are to others.
– How kind are you to your spouse?
– How kind are you to your family members.
– How kind are you to your workers or co workers?
– How kind are you to people you don’t know personally.
– How personally kind are you those you see in need?
Philip Keller wrote, ”Kindness involvers finding ways to brighten and cheer lives of others.”
In Ephesians 4:32 Paul wrote, “be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.”
In 1 Cor. 13:4 Paul also wrote that “Love is patient, and love is kind.”
In the story that Jesus told, which has been titled the GOOD Samaritan, it seems as though Jesus was trying to teach the self righteous Jews of His time that just being ‘religious’, or a member of the right church is not enough. God not only wants us to live a righteous life before Him, He wants that righteousness to reflect in how we treat others.
We call the man in the story the GOOD SAMARITAN, because of the three who passed by the man who got mugged, he was the one who was kind hearted enough to stop and help this one in need.
That’s the kind of character and actions that matter to God. And I also believe that’s the kind of actions that matter to the world we are trying to win over to Christ. As we know, most of the time a person’s actions speak louder than their words.
If anything characterized Jesus and His personal ministry, it was the fact that He was totally righteous, and good, and the fact that He was very kind. He even used impressive acts of kindness to draw attention to His message and helped them to believe.
In John 4:48 Jesus said, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders you will never believe.”
So what did He do? He went around from place to place helping, and healing, and loving the unlovable as He preached His message.
For example in Mark 1:40-42 it says, “40 Now a leper came to him and fell to his knees, asking for help. “If you are willing, you can make me clean,” he said. 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” 42 The leprosy left him at once, and he was clean.” NET
I think it is easier to do good and kind things when we practice being good, when we make a choice to be kind hearted. And I personally believe that the Spirit of God that lives in those of us who are Christians will prompt us and help us become better people and even become kinder to others as we walk with Him. He is ready to raise us to a higher level!
I find that Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan is very similar in how He personally dealt with this man with leprosy.
1) Both these men, the man that was mugged and left for dead on the side of the road, and the man with leprosy, were in a dire state.
2) In both cases, Jesus and the Samaritan felt and showed compassion. I looked up the word compassion in the dictionary and this is how it was defined: It is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by some misfortune. It is also accompanied by a strong desire to help alleviate the suffering.
Some synonym for compassion are: to show grace, kindness, and mercy
Its antonyms (or its opposite) are to be indifferent, without mercy, even cruel.
If you think about it, that’s how the Levite and the Priest acted as they walked by the injured man in the story of the Good Samaritan.
But Jesus and the Good Samaritan felt something; they felt compassion.
3) Another thing we see in both of these stories, is the fact that both Jesus and Good Samaritan were willing to get their hands dirty. The Samaritan got down and bandaged the man’s wounds and then put him on his own mount. Jesus reached out and touched the man with leprosy who was at His feet on his knees, even before He healed Him. Did Jesus have to touch this man to heal him? No, but how comforting that touch must have been to that man from the Messiah Himself.
Sometimes it’s the kind, little things we do that can mean so much and encourage others: maybe just to acknowledge someone, or give them a smile, or a pat on the back, a hug, a card or even a phone call that can lift a person’s spirit. There may be a few great things that we can do for others in are lifetime but there are bunch of little thing we can do each day if we just open our eyes.
4) Also in both stories, being kind cost something of the giver. For the Good Samaritan it cost him some of his time, it cost him his ride having given it up to put the injured man on until they reached the village. It also cost him money out of his own pocket.
For Jesus, even though He asked the healed leper not to say anything about who healed him, the story goes on to say that the word got out anyway, and therefore Jesus had to stay outside the village and stay out in lonely places. He probably had to camp out and sleep on the hard ground rather than on a soft bed in town.
So what are some things that hinder us from being kind?
In the story of the Good Samaritan, why didn’t the priest and Levite help the injured man? They saw the man but they simply passed him by.
I believe they could have been afraid. Sometimes fear will cripple and even prevent us from doing good. But the scriptures also tell us that abundant love can cast out our fears or drive them away.
Or these men could have simply been indifferent, without compassion, with a calloused hearts. Simply put, selfish and only concerned about what they wanted to do over the need of another. They probably justified their lack of action in their own minds and made excuses to make them self feel better. Have you ever done that?
At the end of Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus asked the Jew who was trying to justify himself, “Which of these three do you think became a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”
In other word which man do you think did the right thing in God’s sight? And the response was, “The expert in religious law said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”
And so in conclusion what did Jesus say to him? He said to him, “Go and do the same.”
I don’t feel that I need to brow beat you with all a bunch of scripture verses on the importance of being good and treating outers with kindness and mercy. There are many, but I think this one says it all.
Right here Jesus showed this man and each of us as well, what His will and what God’s will is: To be good, and compassionate, and kind to others, whether you know them or not.
But just like with some of the other fruits of the Spirit, this is something we must choose to do, to go out of our way to do. And the more we learn to deny self and help others, and show kindness to others the more we please God, and become like Jesus which will in turn make us feel good. That’s right you can feel good everyday by choosing to good and kind to others!
I have another question for you, what do you want to be remember for? How hard you worked in this life? How much properly, and animal, and things you own, or how many places you visited or went on vacation to?
Is that what you want to be remembered for?
What matter to me, and what should matters to you, should be what matters to God.
In Matthew 25 Jesus again showed what matters to God. He said that when He returns at the end of all time, and when all the peoples of the earth are separated and gathered before Him in two lines, one to His left like goat, and the rest to His right like sheep, we and what we have done while on this earth will be judged.
And do you remember what the criteria was to enter in His kingdom? Besides believing in and accepting Him? It will come down to how kind we are to others. “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
It goes on to say that when some ask Jesus when we did those things for Him, He will respond by saying that we did those things for Him when we did it for those who we came into contact while we lived here on earth. Or how we treated other people.
Isn’t that what you want to be remembered for? If so, choose that path and ask the Spirit of God to help you grow in this area and start being kinder to those you come in contact with throughout the day, everyday!
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
All comments can be emailed to: bfronzek@gmail.com