[04ctd]

Fruit of the Spirit - Kindness

Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Holy Spirit is as the ÔÇ£seedÔÇØ that is sown in us as Believers in Jesus. We are expected to bear this fruit of the Spirit as listed in Galatians through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The fifth fruit listed in this passage is kindness.

The word ÔÇ£kindnessÔÇØ comes from the Greek word ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ which means ÔÇ£to show consideration or to be friendly with others, to demonstrate usefulness and integrityÔÇØ.

Paul chose this word ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ as a fruit of the Holy Spirit because, in the culture of his day, ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ was often used when describing monarchs or other such rulers who demonstrated compassion and benevolence over their subjects. Anyone who demonstrated this quality was considered to be compassionate, considerate, sympathetic, humane, or gentle.

Paul uses ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ to depict GodÔÇÖs incomprehensible kindness, even for people who are unsaved.

When ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ is working in Believers, those persons seek to meet the needs of those around them, so much so that they deny their own comfort.

This ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ kind of kindness makes us think of missionaries in the field who have been called as apostles, who have the spiritual gift of apostleship, and who have left the comfort of home, friends, family, job, security, and conveniences and go to foreign soil to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus came to earth to become one of us, He denied His own comfort, his position at the right hand of God, the Father. He adapted to human flesh that He might reach us and bring us to salvation.

Is there any way that we as mere humans can display this ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ kind of fruit on our own? Hardly! Only when we call on the Holy Spirit are we able to mirror JesusÔÇÖ ÔÇ£chrestotesÔÇØ kind of kindness to others.