Kindness is part of love, “Love endures long and is patient and kind” (1 Cor 13:4; AMPC). It is also a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). God is love (1 John 4:16) and He is kind. The Psalms talk a great deal about the lovingkindness of God. “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever” (Ps 136:1; AMPC). The second half of that sentence is repeated in every verse of all 26 verses in that Psalm!

In the Old Testament we read about the kindness of Boaz to Ruth (Ruth 2:5-23). In the New Testament Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:30-37. I’m sure we are all familiar with that story, the point being that the Samaritan, from a race hated by the Jews, was the only one who “did the kindness with him” (Luke 10:37; YLT). Jesus followed those words with these, “Go and do likewise.” In Acts 9:36 we read about Dorcas, who was, “always doing kind things for others and helping the poor” (NLT). Eph 4:32 tells us to “be kind to one another” and Col 3:12 tells us to clothe ourselves with a number of things, one of which is kindness.

Did you know there is a week in the year called Random Acts of Kindness week? Next year it is the week from February 14-20, 2025. What a great idea! I don’t know about you but my goal is to make every week a Random Act of Kindness week!