Kindness and Generosity

The fifth fruit of the Spirit is kindness. In the unforgettable description of a model wife in Proverbs 31, there is this statement: “She opens her mouth with wisdom and loving instruction is on her tongue” (v. 26). Note the use of the word “loving.” A model wife passes an inner law in the legislature of her personality that everything she says and does will be loving. Kindness is not something set in her emotions—it is set in her will and thus becomes a life attitude. May we, on bended knee, this day pass the same law in the legislature of our own hearts and so come under its sway forever.

The sixth fruit of the Spirit is goodness. The Greek word agathosune means, according to the experts, “kindness at work.” This is why the word is best understood as it is sometimes translated: “generosity.” This leads us to an interesting statement which Jesus once made: “If your Eye is generous, the whole of your body will be illumined” (Mt 6:22, Moffatt). If your “Eye” (your outlook on life, your whole way of looking at things) is generous, then your whole personality will be illuminated or lit up.

Jesus was generous toward everyone—the poor, the meek, the sinful and the unlovely—and His whole personality was full of light. By the ministry of the Holy Spirit, this characteristic of Jesus is generated in us—if we let it. And when we do, then we begin to see everyone with “the generous eye.”

Further Study

2Pt 1; Rm 12:10; 1Co 13:4; Eph 4:32; Col 3:12

From what does kindness flow out?

How can you show kindness today?