Kindness is so much more than anything it is commonly associated with. Being nice or pleasant is not necessarily genuine; it is more like being consistently polite, which people fake every day. Caring is great, but it does not always result in action.
Kindness involves showing authentic love through intentional actions. Actually loving people and caring about them is the foundation of kindness. Wanting to help them, wanting to spend time with them, and being willing to give up your own interests are all essential roots from which kindness can grow.
We can give lip service to kindness all day and talk about how much we love each other or how dedicated we are to making our community a better place. But do we really mean it? Do we really care about helping people, or do we want them to get help as long as we are not inconvenienced?
Pure, genuine love. Actually feeling pain for those in pain and not just knowing that there are people hurting is the difference between actual kindness and playing Christian. That is why a strong foundation of genuine love and concern is vital to being kind.
Using that foundation as motivation to serve widows and orphans, meet the needs of the poor, feed the hungry, heal the sick, visit those that are alone, build relationships with non-believers, comfort those in pain and anything else the Holy Spirits leads us to do is what kindness is all about.
People often associate kindness with gentleness, and sometimes confuse both of these traits for weakness or being timid. That could not be further from the truth. Anybody can have a heart for a cause, but people that truly show kindness get off of their behinds and make a difference. Let’s make a difference today.