Sermon Tone Analysis

K I N D N E S S

What is kindness?

So far, we’ve covered four different aspects of the fruit of the Spirit and all of them have focused more on an internal resolve.

Joy, peace, and patience are all characteristics that we choose to cultivate and serve to benefit our own lives.

Even if we were to live the rest of our lives separated from other people, living in joy, peace, and patience would benefit us.

While there’s some merit to showing yourself kindness, what we’re going to embark upon tonight and continuing over the next couple of weeks is going to be a deep dive into how the fruit of the Spirit should manifest in our relationships with other people.

Doing a word study here feels like chasing a a hologram, as there are quite a few words in both Greek and Hebrew that the Bible translates as “kindness.”

We’ll focus on the word that Paul uses here in Galatians 5, as that seems to be the most faithful way to interpret the meaning of what kindness is for the purposes of understanding a live lived by the Spirit of God.

χρηστότης (chrēstotēs), ητος (ētos), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 5544; TDNT 9.489—1.

LN 88.10 benevolence, usefulness (Ro 3:12+); 2. LN 88.67 kindness, provide something as an act of kindness (Ro 2:4; 11:22; 2Co 6:6; Gal 5:22; Eph 2:7; Col 3:12; Tit 3:4+; Ro 9:23 v.r.

NA26)

That kindness or benevolence is the action that accompanies love.

Love is the principle fruit.

It’s the one from which all the others find their place, and kindness is the result of love having deep roots in us.

Kindness is the giving kind of love.

It’s the result of Love Himself living on the inside of you and compelling you to act differently as a result.

Being kind finds its roots in a heart that is yielded to the Lord.

Out of hearts that are yielded to Him, kindness is the reasonable byproduct displayed to others.

When He is living on the inside of you, it should affect more than just you.

It should change the way you talk.

It should change the way you think.

It should change the way you act.

In order for it to come out of us, it has to be in us.

He has to be in us.

You won’t act like the Spirit without cultivating that Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit are characteristics that the Holy Spirit exemplifies Himself.

Many people struggle seeing the fruit of the Spirit at work in their lives because they haven’t done the work necessary for fruit to grow.

Underdeveloped fruit is the result of a lack of cultivation that comes with time spent with the Spirit.

You’ll only get His fruit when He’s the source.

So if we’re going to develop our spirits to yield the fruit of His Spirit, we need to find the purpose of kindness from its origin.

Paul is telling the Romans that God’s kindness is not a lack of strength.

His kindness leads us to repentance.

There’s nothing weak about that.

It isn’t guilt that leads us to repentance.

It’s not fear.

It’s not condemnation.

It’s kindness.

Kindness convicts.

The kindness of God demonstrates our need for Him.

In our sin, His kindness extended to us to lead us back into a place of righteousness through Jesus.

It was His love in action that brought about the opportunity for us to be saved in the first place.

He gave us His Spirit out of kindness.

He didn’t leave us hanging here to figure it out on our own.

He gave us gifts to take us to the next level and experience Heaven on earth.

He didn’t have to do it.

It would have been enough to save us.

It would have been enough to narrowly rescue us from the jaws of death.

It would have been enough to keep us from eternal damnation, but He gave us more out of His kindness.

His kindness gave us immeasurable riches of grace.

Kindness is a fruit of a life lived by the Spirit, and you’ll only walk in it effectively and fully when you get a revelation of just how massive His kindness toward you was and is.

God’s love for you moved Him to act in kindness toward you.

Love is the force that motivates the action of kindness.

God’s kindness for us gave us Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

If we love one another as we’re commanded, shouldn’t we be moved to act in kindness accordingly?

Kindness gives without thought of return.

It’s not strategic.

It’s not transactional.

It’s not the result of getting something from someone and trying to pay them back.

It’s giving without expectation of getting something out of it.

That’s not kindness; it’s a payment.

In Colossians 3, Paul tells us to set our minds on the things of God and to put to death the earthly things in us.

That leads us into Colossians 3:12.

Kindness is a result of you choosing to live by the Spirit and not the flesh.

Kindness gives by the Spirit, but the flesh takes for itself.

That’s a pretty good list of selfishly motivated things.

Things that take instead of give.

By the biblical definition, you could say that these are unkind things.

When we walk by the Spirit as a result of cultivating the Spirit and growing His fruit, we will naturally be kind.

The kindness of God is what leads us to repentance.

If you’re struggling with sin of any kind, I want to tell you tonight that God is gracious and kind.

No matter what you’ve done or how far you are from Him, His kindness is available to you tonight.

He has demonstrated His love through the gift of Jesus and continues demonstrating it through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

His kindness is here, because His presence is here.

Reach out and receive from Him tonight!

Don’t live one more moment in condemnation.

If you’ve fallen down, receive the hand of kindness of God and be brought back up where you belong.

There’s no judgment.

Just mercy.

Just kindness.

Now we have to let that Spirit in us produce the fruit of kindness.

Where do you need to correct relationships?

Where have you acted out of a place of selfishness and not Spirit-led kindness?

We have to repent and make corrections to be brought to maturity.

Tonight is the night for us to make that move.

To move toward Him and the life He desires for us to live led by the Holy Spirit.

When we are more led, we’ll produce more fruit.