Defining Kindness

Kindness is an aspect of love characterized by a benevolent, warm-hearted, and friendly disposition that fosters comfort and ease in others.

Kindness is an attribute that the human nature inherently resists, as its self-centered quality of love seeks personal gain rather than the good of others. Before Christ’s coming and demonstrating God’s quality of love towards us, humanity continually rejected kindness.

All having turned away together they became useless. There are none doing kindness, there is not even one – Romans 3:12.

Even today, apart from Christ, genuine kindness is not prevalent in the world. What the world often calls kindness is merely seeking its own benefit. Such actions are not truly motivated by concern for the well-being of others but are instead focused on how they make the individual performing the act feel.

It is God’s kindness that leads us to a change of mind (repentance), rather than the threat of judgment, hellfire, or damnation. Repentance is a change of the mind, not merely a feeling of remorse for actions or a lifestyle. Remorse for a sinful life arises from the realization and acceptance of truth, but it is not synonymous with the act of repentance.

Or do you think little of the riches of His kindness, and tolerance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the kindness from God leads you into a change of mind? Romans 2:4.

Kindness is an aspect of God’s love. It will never do anything to harm another person, for love seeks the best for the one loved. Accepting a person’s perversity, rejection of truth, or harmful lifestyle is not kindness. True kindness will look beyond these things and treating a person with respect, putting them at ease through a benevolent and warm-hearted disposition towards them, while neither approving of nor involving ourselves in their corrupt lifestyle.

Do not be deceived, bad company corrupts useful (kind) morals (1 Corinthians 15:33). We need to look beyond their sin, remaining indifferent to the sin—showing no interests in partaking of or justification for their sinful actions (Jude 20-23)—while showing kindness to the person, so they see the kindness of God in action. When that kindness influences them to believe that Christ did in fact die concerning sins, and was raised from the dead three days later, their sins will be washed away just as ours were.

Within the Christian life, kindness originates from the Holy Spirit. It is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit that we have access to because He indwells us. We are to put on kindness as an outer garment—manifesting who we are in Christ (Galatians 5:22; Colossians 3:12). Kindness begins with setting our minds on the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1-2). This type of mindset impacts our actions, resulting in the proper manifestation of kindness to those around us, especially to those of the household of grace. Kindness is a result of living out who we are in Christ, for apart from Him, we can do nothing.