Try a Little Kindness

We are in week #5 in the study of the Fruit of the Spirit. We are doing this because of the time we are in. Things are so toxic and it’s a great opportunity for us to live out these characteristics so others can see.

I believe it’s so important for people to see Jesus living in us and these fruit will show that he is real. How will people know the Lord unless they see us living for the Lord.

Fruit also shows how healthy the tree is. This list of fruit lets us know how we are doing spiritually. If none of these fruit look like us, then we can’t say that our Christianity is working. The Bible says that they will know them by their fruit.

Another thing is that, God wants these things for us. I hope you never rest on what you have… God is the God of more. Never stop growing. Never stop pursuing your faith…

Now here is our text.

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV84

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Goodness is next week…

As you look at that list, ask yourself how much of that looks like me.

Against these there is no law. He is saying the law can’t make you do these. No matter how hard you try you cannot have these in your own efforts. Now you don’t get these by being told, you need to be these. You can’t be full of the Spirit and have fruit coming out of you because you were told to.

This is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The old covenant told us to obey the law. In the New Covenant, Jesus says I will make you that.

You can’t get these by being told… you can’t get love by trying, you have to be overcome by His love which will flow through you. So we want to become these.

You can’t learn fruit. Fruit is the byproduct of who we are.

Whatever is popping out of you is who you are. This is why we always ask God to continue to transform us into who he wants us to be. That’s really the purpose of you being left here in earth after you are saved.

Spiritually, when you are saved, you are a new creation and you are made perfect spiritually. But we still have this life on earth where we are being regenerated or sanctified. so when we allow God to continue to work on the inside of us, we become more and more like Jesus.

So today, we are going to look at the fruit of Kindness. Let me start with this verse.

Proverbs 11:17 NIV

17 Those who are kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.

We are not kind necessarily to benefit the other person… Kindness benefits us. When you do kind things for others, Endorphins are released in your brain brining you pleasure.

Wall Street Journal article said that humans are hard wired for generosity. The writer was actually confused by this. That’s because they have an evolutionary mindset… They can’t understand it. But you didn’t evolve, you were created.

When you are kind, it benefits you… It will make your life better. But the cruel bring ruin on themselves. I am preaching to me… I need to be kinder. I know you all find that hard to believe… But I am not the kindest person in the world.

tell a story about showing kindness. Me with the girl scouts in Memphis. It feels good to do something nice like that.

I wish I was like that all the time.

What would it look like if we were kind every single day. What would it look like of we went out tomorrow saying, I am going to say kind things, I am going to do kind things, Im going to be on everybody’s kind list.

Think about some of the kindest people you know. These might be some of the words you would describe them with.

These might be some of the words that you would think of.

Friendly

Just someone who is friendly. When you walk in they go… good to see you…

Generous

They don’t mind taking whats theirs and helping others.

Kindness in the Greek actually says… useful to others.

Considerate

They think about you, not themselves.

Meek

Really it’s a humility. They don’t have an edge. They are not edgy.

You can probably think of some people that these words would describe.

So how can we become these. How can we learn it in a way that we can be it. Look at this verse.

Ephesians 4:32 NLT

32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

He says to be kind to each other… that’s easier said than done right?

Then he said to be tenderhearted. Here is what that means. I believe that the HS is saying,

Kindness comes ot of the life of someone whose heart is not hard. IOW,

Kindness is a heart issue.

Kindness is a heart issue. It’s the best revealer of what is going on in our hearts. There are way too many people today with hard hearts. The Bible says that when we get to the last days, there will be more divisiveness, hatred, strife, anxiety and we really see it raise up it’s ugly head during an election season.

The Bible when it talks about how things are going to be as we move towards the end of time, it doesn’t mention climate… or the economy… it mentions heart issues.

Look at what Paul wrote to Timothy

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NLT

1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

2 Timothy 3:1–5 “You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult (fierce or demonic. It’s the same word Jesus used to describe the demoniac of Gadera) times.

2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred.

They will lose their sense of sacredness. Nothing will be sacred. You see it when a Governor does a spoof video making fun of Communion.

3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious (They still go to church), but they will reject the power (of God that makes us kind…) that could make them godly.

Stay away from people like that!”

We need to stay away from these people.

All of us would like to be on the kind list…

Now look at this verse in KJ. there are 4 “uns.”

2 Timothy 3:2–3 NKJV

2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

2 Timothy 3:2–3 (NKJV) unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving

If we can get rid of these 4 uns, kindness will jump out of us.

1. Unthankful

We are no longer moved by sunsets, be the beauty of our world. We have lost the awe that we have breath… that we God allows us to be alive. How beautiful the trees are… at he sound of the birds…

We are so focused on what we want, we forget what we have.

The opposite of this is an attitude of gratitude or thankfulness. I saw this in my mother. She was thankful for what she had… I have seen this on the mission field, where people with nothing have the joy the joy of the Lord.

Could it be that the more we get, the more we want…

I can remember walking along the Lake levee talking to the Lord and saying, Lord if you never did another thing for me, I will still worship you. I am so grateful for what you have already done in my life. What would it look like if we could be like this all the time…

Kids today all have phones or some device that with almost any streaming service give them access to millions of songs, but they are not grateful.

Anyone remember the Sony Walkman…

Progress paradox - research that showed that the more we have, the less grateful we are… and the more we still want and how it never satisfies. The people who had the most, were the most miserable people.

Could there be this is beautiful solution? God is a good God. That’s why we come to church to remind ourselves of how good he is. It’s why we sig songs about his goodness.

He has been so good to us. He gives us breath….

Romans speaks of the end times…

Romans 1:18–21 NLT

18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. 19 They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. 20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. 21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.

What is the antidote? We have to remind ourselves that…

Titus 3:3–5 NLT

3 Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. 4 But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, 5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

If we can just get in the habit of being grateful for everything… tomorrow… You got up… get to go to work…

Write this down.

The more I am grateful for the kindness of God toward me, the kinder I will be to those around me.

May we be that O Lord.

Here is the 2nd UN.

2. Unholy

We are no longer moved by the fear of God or of holiness. To many of us expect God to continue to bless us while we allow compromising sins to permeate our lives.

This not only wreck our lives spiritually … it wrecks our soul…, but it torches us emotionally. The weight of carrying the shame and guilt that comes with sin and the energy it takes to keep it a secret.

Some of you may be here with a fake smile and you are exhausted. And really instead of continuing to hide it or manage it. What would it look like if you said, God, you can have it?

Maybe you need to give whatever it is on your life that’s displeasing to God… to God. You will walk out of here lighter than you came in. Here is what will begin to happen… Kindness will begin popping out of you.

It’s almost impossible to be kind while you are carrying something like that around in your heart. Maybe you have talked yourself in to believing that a little bit won’t hurt a bit. I’m mostly godly…

Mom with a teenage boy. He wanted him mom to let him come over to watch a movie at his house. But the movies was R rated. He was pleading with his mom saying look mom, it’s just a little scene. It doesn’t last long. The rest of the movies is good. She said go ahead. I’ll even make your favorite brownies. she is up in the kitchen making the Brownies and she decides to go out into the yard where their pet Dog Lilly does her business. She scoops up some poop… not much, just a little bit and she mixes it in the brownies.

She took them to the boys, but she told them, I need to let you know. There is a little bit of Lilly’s business in them. Not much just a little. Don’t worry, a little poop won’t hurt you.

IDK. A little poop goes a long way.

Just like that, we often think God will over look it.

Romans 11:22 NIV84

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Kindness and sternness. Sternness to those who don’t do what God wants in their lives… Kindness to those who are kind.

Otherwise, he will cut you off. He is saying, it’s up to you. He calls us to the beautiful word where we say, I am so sorry God, forgive me. That’s called repentance.

When you truly repent you will feel so good. What happens is this…

Titus 1:15 NLT

15 Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.

Look Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure…

Nothing is pure to those who are corrupted. So what do we do?

Proverbs 21:21 ESV

21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor.

If we pursue righteousness and kindness, we find life. His mercies endure forever.

True repentance means we change our mind and direction so deeply that it changes us.

I believe that can happen to us today.

3. Unloving.

This is probably the one you have to work on the least.

But there are too many people who are filled with hate… want to be divisive… what to have sides. It’s ok to have convictions. But it os not ok to treat people on the other side of your conviction poorly.

We are still called to love everybody… no matter if we agree with them or not.

This is what the church should be known for. We may not agree with them, or approve of their life choices, but we can love them because Jesus loves them.

We should always be treating people the way Jesus did. The church should be known as the most loving place on the earth. That’s why we go into the jails, and detention centers, do outreaches, do Fule the Future…

This is why we support Convoy of Hope, Samaritan’s Purse, Billy Graham Chaplains.

Proverbs 19:17 NLT

17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you!

God is rewarding us. He wants to reward you.

Sometime helping them might not be giving them money on the side of the road…

1 Thessalonians 5:15 AMP

15 See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.

Do every thing we can to do to be kind.

We are entering a holiday season where we can demonstrate kindness to others. Christmas food baskets. Fall Festival where we will give Christian books away. Christmas Angel… Acts of Kindness Cards.

Thank everyone who tithes. You grew up like I did… Thank you for your generosity.

4. Unforgiving

It’s impossible to be kind with this one, when you still harbor something against someone else. No longer willing to forgive, but would rather expose and cancel. That’s the culture we live in. Instead of loving someone, we would rather hurt the ones we hate. Society is doing this at an alarming rate.

It’s not that maybe they didn[t do something wrong. I just hate the way we are treating each other in this culture.

We think that we punish them, call them out and expose them… but we don’t feel good anymore.

Unforgiveness is like setting yourself on fire hoping that the person you hate dies from smoke inhalation. It doesn’t hurt them, it hurts you.

That’s why every where it talks about kindness, it talks about forgiveness too.

Ephesians 4:31–32 NIV

31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Colossians 3:12–13 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

You may say… they were wrong… forgive them anyway.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was me.

Think about the kindest people you know… they can be that way because of Jesus.

Christianity is a lifestyle. It’s not a church service. It’s living it out every day.

Prayer -

Ask the HS what He is trying to say to you? Maybe you have become ungrateful, unholy, unloving, or unforgiving.

God wants to work inside of our hearts today a Spirit of gratitude. He is a God of repentance. We will leave our issues here at the altar today. Today we will forgive those who haven’t even asked for it… who don’t deserve it, so that we can be set free.

HS, Work in our hearts today because we believe in the power of God to change is.

If you are here and you know you are not right with God. You probably know if because you feel a million miles from Him. You feel your guilt. People of god have that lightness… that cleansing and that is available to you today.

It begins with repentance. You can pray for the lord to forgiveness and ask Jesus to save you. He will instantly take that guilt away from you. He will give you the power in your life to live for him and He will provide for you a home in heaven.

If that’s you, I want to pray for you. If you want to be included in this prayer raise your hand and then put it back down.