November 13, 2019

Be Kind to Everyone

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

Kindness has become a “thing.” You know. It’s having a moment of popularity in a world that seems increasingly filled with violence and hatred.

Except kindness was always supposed to be a thing. It’s part of the fruit of the Spirit. It’s part of who we are called to be as children of God.

We know that. We do. Except for the exceptions. We don’t believe we should have to be kind – or nice – to people who aren’t kind to us. That whole love your enemies thing just isn’t reality. That’s what we tell ourselves and others anyway.

And surely we shouldn’t be expected to be kind to people who don’t have a job. We don’t need to know their story to understand that they’re nothing more than deadbeats expecting the rest of us to carry them. We don’t care what the Bible says about taking care of the poor. Surely God wasn’t talking about “those” kinds of people.

Let’s not even talk about being kind to liberals (or conservatives). They don’t have a clue of what it’s like to be a real Christian. They kill babies, give everything we’ve worked for to the poor and want to hand our country over to the communists. We don’t need to hear what they have to say.

We don’t need to bother with strangers. Why should we show kindness to someone we don’t know, someone who really can’t do anything for us? We’ll gladly help God’s people so long as they look, act and live like us. But only if we can give money. We’re just too busy to serve in any other way.

Anybody can show kindness to someone we know and love. We show our faith, we show Jesus, when we’re kind to everyone. Remember: It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about Him. Every time you slight someone, look down on someone, or refuse compassion, you are doing the same to Jesus.