What is kindness? How does one act in a kindly way? How is love related to kindness? Is it at all? Can one be kind, but not loving? Or loving, but unkind? Let’s find out.

Kindness, tautologically, is the state or nature of being kind. So, what does it mean to be kind? Websters?

1a: of a sympathetic or helpful nature (eg:  was helped by a kind neighbor; They were very kind to us.)

b: of a forbearing nature : gentle (eg: kind treatment of animals)

c: arising from or characterized by sympathy or forbearance  a kind act (eg: a kind smile)

2: of a kind to give pleasure or relief (eg: cooled by a kind breeze)

Ok, so when one is kind, they operate from a place of compassion or sympathy for another, perhaps also patient or gentle toward another. That seems pretty loving to me. The Greek term used is Chrestotes, which carries the connotation of goodness to offset human cruelty… meeting real needs in God’s way and timing. Kind and Good at the same time… useful kindness, not just words, but actions that rectify situations which arise from human cruelty without causing cruelty to anyone else.

So, how is this connected with love? What is love? Let’s look back to the beginning of these devotions, 5 weeks ago… Love is patient and kind, it does not envy or boast, it believes the best and doesn’t keep record of wrongs… it never seeks to injure another. In other words, kindness is a portion of what love is, according to 1 Corinthians 13. So, can one be kind without being loving? I don’t think that that is a possibility. If kindness is a portion of what love is, then logically, one cannot be kind without being loving. However, one could logically be loving without being kind, just because kindness is not the same as the whole of being loving. So, let’s do a thought experiment, and imagine a loving act which is not also kind… wow, this is hard… the sort of kindness involved with this verse requires the act to be “useful” and to meet real needs, not just be a symbolic gesture which doesn’t really meet any needs. Can’t really think of a time when you can be loving but unkind. Can you? Let me know in the comments.

Jesus,

Help me to grow in kindness today. Help me to be tender-hearted to those around me, so that l am always looking for ways to be genuinely kind toward others. Encounter me today, shake me out of complacency and self-absorption so that I can really see others in their needs and give me the insight to know how to meet those needs according to the resources you’ve given to me to manage.

Amen.