Study #48: LAMED
LAMED: THE GOAD OF DISCIPLESHIP: ( PART 7 )
THE 5 BLESSINGS OF THE ONE NEW MAN IN CHRIST ( PART 7 )
THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT: KINDNESS
KINDNESS is defined as the attitude that anticipates the need of others – and fulfills it by the right corresponding action.
In a 2003 study of 37 cultures around the world, 16,000 subjects were asked about the most desired trait in their mates. For both sexes, the first preference was KINDNESS.
KINDNESS goes beyond a kind word or sympathetic gesture. It involves some degree of self-sacrifice especially of our time.
The Hebrew word CHESED ( Loving Kindness ) explains the sacrificial aspect of KINDNESS best.
For Jesus personified God’s CHESED in the greatest example of Loving-Kindness when He anticipated our need for salvation by sacrificing Himself for all our sins. We are here and alive because of this greatest act of KINDNESS ever performed regardless of the fact we were once enemies of the Cross.
CHESED is God’s covenantal love for us personified in Christ. And His KINDNESS prompts us to share His loving- kindness in all our thoughts, words and deeds.
The Greek meaning of KINDNESS is CHRESTOS which implies that Biblical KINDNESS involves action. As John puts it: ” Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions ( 1 John 3:18 ).
Glenn Campbell’s 1970 song, ” Try a Little Kindness” has this telling refrain:
“Try a little kindness,
Then you’ll overlook the blindness”.
Abba Father, may the fruit of KINDNESS continue to grow and blossom within us so that we can give KINDNESS to every hand we shake, every face we pass, and every person in our lives, regardless of whether we feel they deserve it or not. For true kindness is Spirit- produced. Indeed “Love suffers long and is kind” ( 1 Corinthians 13:4 ). May we keep on putting on KINDNESS like something we wear each day for the rest of our lives. ( Colossians 3: 12-17 ).
Ephesians 4:31 -32
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each another, just as in Christ God forgave you”
