Kindness - Essential Fruit

Philip Kenneson wrote the following about cultivating the fruit of kindness in the midst of self-sufficiency in our society. "Kindness is a particular manifestation of love's other-directedness. Kindness seems to manifest itself as a certain way of being helpful to those who need help. Such a helpfulness stems first of all from God's helpfulness, of which the Christian is imminently mindful. ..... This fruit by its very character, therefore, is one of the most outwardly visible fruit of the Christian life. ..... we regard people as kind because they go out of their way, often quietly and without fanfare, to engage in kind actions. Nitty-gritty, concrete, everyday kinds of actions."

However, servanthood that is characterised by this spirital fruit of kindness is not about doing or practicing " random acts of kindness" as car bumper stickers and other signs and billboards have been challenging us to do for some years now. Such random acts of kindness should be called "random acts of niceness", not kindness, as Steve Sjogren has pointed out. There is nothing random or accidental about kindness as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)! The Holy Spirit substantially and intentionally produces the fruit of kindness in us as we yield to him and nurture our spiritual lives by walking with God daily and practicing the spiritual disciplines as disciplines of the Holy Spirit. Kindness has been defined by Sjogren as"practical acts of mercy done by followers of Jesus who are inspired by the Holy Spirit to see others through the eyes of God. Paul writes that ' the kindness of God leads us to repentence' (Rom. 2:4). The bible seems to distinguish between the divine quality of kindness and the human quality of niceness."

In a similar vein, Kenneson also critiques the idea of simply doing random acts of "kindness" (or niceness). The main limitation of such acts, according to him, is that genuine other-directedness is lacking - we feel good about doing these random acts of "kindness", regardless of what the recipients may really need

Kenneson suggests three major ways in which true kindness can be cultivated in our lives in the Spirit as Christians. The first is in remembering our story, especially as undeserved recipients of God's great kindness and matchless grace in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial love for us on the cross. We therefore gather regularly for worship of God, being constantly reminded, because we need to be, of our utter dependency on God and how he gloriously works through our human weakness

The second is in nurturing connections, especially as members of the body of Christ, who see one another as precious gifts of God to each other. We are therefore challenged to give up our self-sufficiency and autonomy. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit instead to become true servants to one another in mutual service for the building up of the body of Christ. The giving and receiving of acts of kindness (not random acts of niceness!) are crucial aspects of such servanthood.

The third is in listening to one another. In order to nurture deeper and more loving relationships with each other, to connect with one another in the Spirit in the depths of our soul, we need to listen to one another carefully and attentively. This kind of listening will help us discern and know each other's deeper needs and to respond lovingly and appropriately to such needs with Spirit-filled acts of kindness that are truly other-directed. In fact, listening itself is a kindness we can give to others in a self-obsessed world where very few people are heard deeply enough to feel understood.

- Taken from "Full service" by Dr Tan

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Don't u think it's a wonderful time to give thanks for the many blessings in our lives. Just as God place us here in this same cell grp, continue to build up one another and offer the listening ears to one another as well whenever u can to the people who are especially close to you. It's great to know that kindness can be displaced in this form of loving one another. Continue to encourage and walk together on this life journey.