Before the Cross: Fruit of the SpiritНамуна

Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

Kind is a four-letter word among men. Literally. You don’t hear us saying it much.

If you toss a man a Gatorade after the both of you have finished boxing grizzly bears it’s not likely to hear, “Thanks, man. That was kind.”

We like to be called “tough”, “disciplined”, “ambitious”, “driven”.

We’ll even go for being called generous, anything other than kind and its pansy cousins “compassionate”, “meek” and . . . yikes . . . “tenderhearted”.

Our current culture shines a light on unkindness from every race and creed and gender.

As patience erodes, kindness dissipates.

Like a biscuit at a gluten-free party, kindness doesn’t seem to fit in well with where culture is headed.

No, we have to be strong, assertive (or aggressive) if we are to get anywhere in this world and that means we must sacrifice kindness along the way.

Don’t worry. Kindness won’t even complain. It’s too kind.

However, Jesus turned that on it’s head. And the fact that He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, it might be best to look at His example rather than Joe Facebook’s latest attempt to dominate a comment section.

There are many accounts in the gospels where Jesus could have gone all Lord of Heavens and Earth on people but showed them kindness instead. Here’s a few.

A group of people wanted to throw Jesus off a cliff. He quietly slipped away.

Herod offered up Jesus’ friend John’s head on a plate to appease a dancing girl. Jesus learns of it, slips away, finds solitude and then has compassion on a large number of people.

Jesus is mocked, cursed, beaten and sent to suffer on a cross to die for the sins of all humanity. Jesus endures, slips away to death and conquers it through His resurrection.

With such a portfolio of bravery through kindness available to us in the gospels, why is it hard to get past the uncomfortable and awkward and demonstrate kindness where it doesn’t seem to fit?

Why not sacrifice aggressiveness, revenge and domineering instead?

Maybe we need to slip away from what currently entangles us and make kindness a priority as we tighten our hold to Jesus Christ as our role model.

That would kind of fit well with God’s plan for us.