by Pastor Wendall Ward
We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) Therefore, our love will look like the Father’s. We will be kind because we have seen and received His kindness.
1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 says it well. “…And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, BE PATIENT with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong but always try to BE KIND to each other and to everyone else.” -NIV
Kindness is an essential quality of love.
It is the expression of human sympathy and benevolence that reflect the mildness of God’s love. Kind actions are the tangible evidence that the grace of God has impacted my life. Thereby creating a willingness to be a vessel through which His love is expressed to the world.
Kindness and forgiveness go hand in hand.
The greatest act of kindness in the human experience is to receive the “forgiveness of sins”. Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ we have been forgiven. Therefore we are willing to be kind and forgiving. And like His, our forgiveness should never be based upon the worthiness of another to receive it (Luke 6:35-36; Eph 4:31-32).
The act of a prosperous soul.
“A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Pv 11:25). Kindness has the power to refresh another human being with its hope and joy. Giving and receiving kindness helps prevent our soul from being shriveled up by the negative emotions that want to attack our minds.
A primary attribute of the servant of Christ.
“The Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must BE KIND to everyone, able to teach, not resentful” (2 Tim 2:24). When genuinely expressed it can be a gentle plow that opens the heart to God. It is also a touch point through which some will experience God for the very first time.
Kind actions are evidence that we remember what God did for us.
Titus 3:4-8 says it this way. “When we act in kindness, it is evidence that we remember what God did for us, and in that humbling remembrance, live in the joyful expectation of life together with Him. “When the KINDNESS OF GOD OUR SAVIOR and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life”.
In conclusion, we love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) And likewise, we are kind because we have seen and received His kindness.
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