Good morning, Five Minute Families! Compassion – the concern for others – calls us to offer ourselves up for someone in need. Acts of compassion require the attitude of kindness. And God provides the fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We’ve been diving into the fruit of the spirit, in reverse order from the list in Galatians 5, and we are today touching on kindness. Last week we defined goodness as ‘the actions which are taken to improve the health, happiness, or well-being of others.’ Goodness involves a level of righteousness and right-ness in our choices and behaviors. For example, if we have a loved one to whom we must speak the truth in love – which may seem unkind – it is still good to give them the truth and possibly hold them accountable for their actions.

One author points out how both goodness and kindness come from compassionate hearts, yet while goodness is an action of righteousness that involves integrity and honesty, kindness can best be defined as ‘our true, internal desire for the health, happiness, or well-being of others.’ Some of us will do good, but we are not kind. That is not to say that as Christ-followers we do not have the capacity for kindness. It just means that we have not allowed the Holy Spirit to cultivate the attribute of kindness within us.

Of course, some people are simply kind. You meet them and you can sense kindness from them. You feel safe to ask for help; you feel genuinely comfortable in their presence. My favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. The eldest daughter is Jane. Her sister Elizabeth says to her, “You never see a fault in anybody. All the world are good and agreeable in your eyes. I never heard you speak ill of a human being in your life.” And Jane replies, “I would not wish to be hasty in [criticizing] anyone; but I always speak what I think.” Part of Elizabeth’s answer concludes, “I know you do…[the ability] to take the good of everybody’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.” Obviously, a fictionalized account, but a perfect illustration of genuine, heartfelt kindness. I often choose goodness but kindness is a bit harder for me to exemplify because I don’t always have the kindest of thoughts about others. Anyone else out there feel the same???

The thing about kindness is that biblically, it is often coupled with mercy and humility such as in Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” So, how do we five-minute families adopt an attitude of kindness? Believe it or not, we have to first believe that we can be kind, even if we haven’t been historically. We must realize that we need to think in terms of kindness – such as 1 Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient; love is kind.” God is love, and God lives within us; thus we can be kind and we can think in terms of kindness. And, finally, we must practice kindness in our actions. Here are five steps to take to cultivate the attribute of kindness:

Step one. Smile! Check your tone, attitude, and posture. Smile with the corner of your lips and your whole body. Remember Proverbs 17:22 “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.” A smile can truly change the life of someone you share it with, just google that if you don’t believe me.

Step two. Put others first. Let someone cut line. Offer for other folks to go before you in traffic. Do the dishes without being asked. As Philippians 2:3 states, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves.”

Step three. Say thank you more. Are you grateful for your salvation? Then, know that others need to see your gratitude. That means, when you have a chance to share your gratitude, even in the smallest transactional ‘thank yous’ of life, you should. Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.”

Step four. Listen to others’ stories. Seek first to understand, not to be understood. James 1:19 “My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen and slow to speak”

And, last step for today. Volunteer. Acts 20:35 sums it up best, “In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Be kind today. And, be blessed!