Devotional 36: God is Kind

Scripture describes love as patient and kind (1 Corinthians 13:4). We should not feel surprised when we experience the patience and kindness of God in our relationship with Him.  In our last meditation we considered God’s patience; now let’s think about His kindness.

What does it mean to be kind?  Noah Webster’s first dictionary defines kindness as follows: “disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature.” How has God been kind?

God is certainly kind when he offers us forgiveness of sin and eternal life:

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7

The Psalmist magnifies God’s kindness in all of His works:

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. (The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.) Psalm 145:13
The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. Psalm 145:17-20

Furthermore, The Lord, speaking through the Prophet Hosea refers to His guidance of Israel as kindness, “I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them (Hosea 11:4).  Since God’s leading is a kindness, we can consider all the instruction of His Word, the Bible, a gift of kindness.  Interestingly, His kind instruction trains us to be kind as well, “Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor” (Proverbs 21:21).  Do you want the blessings of life, righteousness, and honor?  Then you must pursue righteousness and kindness. In that pursuit you will surely fail and come to realize as Paul teaches throughout the letter to the Romans that Salvation is only found in the gift of righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.  When Christ rules in our heart through faith and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, God’s grace in our lives will produce kindness toward others.  One of the fruit of the Spirit is kindness: “Galatians 5:22-23,  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Christ’s followers are also commanded to be kind: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).  By God’s grace we can be kind because our God is graciously kind!

Lastly, God’s grace is a kindness that we will be learning about for eternity: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

With Prayer, Mark

© January, 2012         Scripture quoted: ESV – Emphasis added

Verses for our meditation:  God Is Kind

Hosea 11:4, I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.

Micah 6:8, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Zechariah 7:8-10,  And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

Romans 2:2-5, We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man–you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself–that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Romans 11:20-23, That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.

1 Corinthians 13:4, Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

Galatians 5:22-23,  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Ephesians 2:4-7, But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved– and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 4:32, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 3:12-13,  Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

2 Timothy 2:24-26, And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.