KINDNESS
Kindness is the Greek word “chrestotes” which means a gracious attitude, and thus describes the quality of being helpful and beneficial.
Kindness is an attribute of God and a godly trait which the Spirit produces in the surrendered saint. This is in contrast to the unregenerate sinner who shows no kindness.
In Colossians 3:12 Paul writes to the Colossian saints regarding their new “Christ-like” garment, commanding them as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Let’s see what others have to say about “kindness.”
JOHN EADIE writes that the meaning of “chresotes” is kindness, gentleness, affability, the benign heart and the soft answer, “the gentleness of Christ,” or a serene, loving, and sympathizing temper, the fruit of that Spirit who descended in the form of a dove upon our great Exemplar, and abode upon Him.
ALBERT BARNES writes that “chrestotes” is opposed to a harsh, crabbed, crooked temper. It is a disposition to be pleased; it is mildness of temper, calmness of spirit, an unruffled disposition, and a disposition to treat all with urbanity and politeness. This one of the regular effects of the Spirit’s operations on the heart. The Holy Spirit makes no one crabbed, and morose, and sour. He sweetens the temper, corrects an irritable disposition; make the heart kind; disposes us to make all around us as happy as possible. This is true politeness; a kind of politeness which can far better be learned in the school of Christ
JESUS taught that we are to love our enemies, and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return and our reward will be great, and we will sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. (Luke 6:35)
JOHN MACARTHUR writes that kindness, “chrestotes” connotes genuine goodness and generosity of heart. Our salvation from sin and lostness and death issued wholly from God’s kindness. His loving, benevolent, and entirely gracious concern to draw us to Himself and redeem us from sin forever.
MacArthur adds that strangely, most people do not perceive God as being totally good. Instead of recognizing His gracious provision, patience, and His mercy, they accuse Him of being insensitive and unloving for letting certain thins happen.
“How could God allow that little child to die?” they ask, or “Why does God allow that good person to suffer pain and poor health and permit a scoundrel to enjoy health and wealth?
Such people judge God from an incomplete and distorted human perspective, failing to acknowledge that if it were not for God’s gracious goodness and patience, no human being would be alive. It is only His grace that allows any person to take another breath.
JAMES MONTGOMERTY BOICE adds that kindness is the divine kindness out of which God acts toward me. It is what the Old Testament means when it declares that “God is good,” as it so frequently does. The Christian is to show kindness by behaving toward others as God has behaved toward them.
C NORMAN BARLETT says that kindness, gentleness, is the spontaneous overflow of love in the heart. It is the spirit that would rather be hurt by others than hurt others. Would that more of us were as tenderhearted as we are thin-skinned, as impulsive in kindness as explosive in anger. We need to cultivate resourcefulness in kindliness, to gain proficiency in the artistry of applying Christian love to the hearts and lives of those with when we come in contact in the multitudinous activities and relationships of live.
THE TYNDALE BIBLE DICTIONARY summarizes kindness as that state of being that includes the attributes of loving affection, sympathy, friendliness, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and goodness. Kindness is a quality shown in the way a person speaks and acts. It is more volitional than emotional.
LEON MORRIS adds that the basic thought of kindness, “chrestotes,” is that of goodness. But it is the goodness that is goodness of heart, not what which is austerely correct. The translation “kindness” brings out this benevolent aspect, but we should not be unmindful of the fact that goodness is also involved. Paul is thinking of God’s goodness, which is seen in the kindness He shows to His people.
CHARLES SPURGEON describes the spiritual aspect of the kindness of God:
Myriads of our fellow men have never had an opportunity of knowing Christ. The missionary’s foot has never trodden the cities wherein they dwell, and so they die in the dark. Multitudes are going downward, downward, but they do not know the upward road; their minds have never been enlightened by the teachings of God’s Word, and hence they sin with less grievousness of fault. You are placed I the very focus of Christian life, and yet you follow evil! Will you not think of this? Time was when a man would have to work for years to earn enough money to buy a Bible. There were times when he could not have earned one even with that toil; now the Word of God lies upon your table, you have a copy of it in almost every room of your house; is not this a boon from God? This is the land of the open Bible, and the land of the preached Word of God; in this your prove the riches of God’s goodness. Do you despise this wealth of mercy? Possibly you have enjoyed the further privilege of sitting under a ministry which has been particularly plain and earnest; you have not had sermons tugged at your conscience, as though he would force you to the Savior. With cries of entreaties you have been invited to your heavenly Father, and yet you have not come. Is this a small thing?
WILLIAM NEWELL writes that we should not the degrees or stages of God’s kindness. First, it is God’s “goodness,” in daily preserving us, providing for us, and protecting us. Second, divine goodness being despised, God’s “forbearance” is exercised. God does not smite instantly the proud ingrate, but goes on in goodness toward him, withholding wrath even at time when disease, danger, or death threaten all about us. Third, all God’s goodness and forbearance being despised, God’s “long-suffering” keeps waiting, even over vessel of wrath.
One of the most beautiful illustrations of this volitional aspect of human kindness is King David’s treatment of Mephibosheth. Scripture records in 2 Samuel 9:ff David’s question, “Is there yet anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
David’s desire was to show “the kindness of God” to King Saul’s family because of his covenant with Saul’s son, Jonathan. The young man chosen was Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son, who “was lame in both feet.”
If David had acted according to justice, he would have condemned Mephibosheth who belonged to a condemned family. But David acted on the basis of kindness, seeking out Methiposheth, assuring him he had no need to fear, inviting him to live in the king’s palace as family and to eat at the king’s table. This is but a veiled picture of the infinite kindness of God!
Indeed, every believer has experienced even greater kindness, for we are now children of the King and shall revel in His majestic presence forever!
What kindness!
Sometimes men are awakened out of mere creatural existence through the breath of kindness. Henry M. Stanley's early life is a story that moves the hardest heart. Never knowing his father, disowned by his mother, in the Asaph workhouse surrounded by misery and cruelty, he used to hear the lesson read from John 4:4, 7: "Little children, . . . love one another," and wondered what it meant. His childish heart was ready and yearning for love, but none gave love to him; and he began to think the sweetest parts of the Bible were wholly inapplicable to actual life. He had come, even at early years, to disbelieve in love.
Then one day the fugitive boy who had run away from the ship at New Orleans stood in front of a kind, grave gentleman who had taken him into his store and then into his home. The man took a basin of water, made the sign of the cross on his brow, gave him his own name, Henry M. Stanley, and then took him in his arms and kissed him. His senses whirled about him, and tears, which no amount of cruelty could ever have forced from him, poured in a torrent under the influence of that simple embrace. "The golden period of my life began from that supreme moment."
