Kindness..a part of the Fruit of the Spirit

   Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV) ~ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,  peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

   I realize it has been a while since my “fruit of the Spirit” posts. Today’s post is about kindness. Not human kindness..but the type that comes from God. True kindness. The type that comes from knowing God personally and therefore having the Holy Spirit living in you.

   I know for a fact that if I didn’t have the power of the Holy Spirit living in me, I wouldn’t be a kind person all of the time. When things go wrong and people hurt me (intentionally or unintentionally), my first thought isn’t always the best thought. Praise God that He chose to give us Christ to live in us so that we don’t have to act like the world..we can choose to act like “little Christs” instead.

   Ephesians 4:32 (NIV) ~ Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

   When I think of kindness, I think of “random acts of kindness”, pay it forward, etc.. I also think of times when someone has done something for me..just because. How awesome of a feeling is that, when somebody “just does” something for you..because they want to??

   Just one example: We got home from school and town, and our youngest daughter just started unloading the dishwasher and putting away the clean dishes for me. WOW! Talk about kindness! I didn’t ask her to..or even better, I wasn’t even expecting her to do that! You better believe I praised her for it too!

   I could go on and on about acts of kindness that others have done for me.

   I have to say this, being kind to someone feels good! It feels even better when you are doing it without telling anybody about it. Try it, if you haven’t already. I believe that when you can get to that place..the one where you do something kind for someone “just because”, and you keep it between you and God, then you have truly arrived at the destination of “Godly kindness”! 🙂

   Matthew 6:3,4 (NIV) ~ {JESUS speaking} But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

   There is a kindness like no other, and that is the kindness that Christ showed to us. HE willingly suffered and died on the cross for your sins and mine. He did it out of “GODLY KINDNESS”, and love for us! He lives and because of His kindness towards us, we can live eternally too! If you have admitted you are a sinner, and accepted Jesus as your Savior, and confess with your mouth..you have the promise of eternal life! That is the most AWESOME gift..and act of KINDNESS ever performed!

   Friends, if you are not positive %100 that when you die you will go to Heaven, please don’t wait anymore! Please talk to someone..a pastor, church leader, someone who you know “knows”. I want you to have the peace and joy that I have. It is all because of Jesus!

   UNTIL NEXT TIME!