God showed his kindness to us through Jesus (Eph. 2:7) and we need to imitate his example. Kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). The meaning of the Greek word in both verses is really the practical expression of goodness, particularly in the face of difficult people.

In Ephesians 4:32 (KJV) the apostle Paul taught us that we should: “be ye kind one to another" and in Colossians 3:12 he was more emphatic writing that we should: "put on…. kindness”.  In the familiar love passage of the new Testament (1 Cor 13): we see that kindness is one of the attributes of God’s unconditional love (V4).

A different Greek word for kindness is used in Acts 28:2: "the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness". The word used here denotes more of a loving kindness toward people. So, when we talk about kindness, we think of doing good things to help others as in Gal. 6:10: "do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith".

Sometimes kindness comes naturally to us but at other times we have to be intentional about it; it’s so easy to become consumed with our own problems and busyness and not notice what others are going through. Look out for opportunities to be a blessing to people today and have fun doing it.

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