Tag: Kindness

The Uncomfortable Reason God is Kind to His People

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Nice is not the same as kind, though we conflate these terms. I hear people described as being “nice” far more than “kind,” and I suspect that’s because cultural niceness is not a high bar to clear. If someone is generally unoffensive, refrains from kicking puppies, and smiles here and there, they are nice.

But this is not kindness. Think about it: Scripture tells us that God is kind, but can you imagine describing God as nice?

The Christians in Rome had trouble understanding God’s kindness, so Paul wrote with some difficult words on the subject.

Kind Is Not Permissive

At the beginning of Romans 2, Paul confronts those who judge others and practice the same things themselves.

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:3–4)

These Romans knew God was kind, but they assumed that meant God would overlook their sin. God is patient, but if knowing this leads to hypocrisy under the cover of God’s grace, things have gone off the rails.

God is not only kind but rich in kindness, forbearance, and patience (verse 4). And this kindness is meant to lead us to repentance.

Kindness and Repentance

In our permissive, mind-your-own-business culture, the connection between kindness and repentance is confusing. The thought goes that anyone who is kind or nice would let us do what we want instead of encouraging us to change.

But God knows better. It is good and kind of God to turn us away from sin and back to himself. We may think of the law as dampening our fun, so it seems like only a killjoy would turn us away from what we want to do.

But if what we want is bad for our souls, if it make us less human and less like what we were meant to be, then letting us carry on in sin is not kind at all. In fact it is uncaring, unloving, mean, and even hateful.

If we’re thinking properly, we should embrace and welcome this kindness of God to turn us around. We should pray for God in his kindness to open our eyes to our sin and to gently and firmly lead us to repentance.

Becoming More Kind

Note that God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance and that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). One implication is that if our kindness is like God’s, we will also point others to repentance.

There are loving and unloving ways to do this, of course. But my guess is that Christians reading this have probably experienced a loving rebuke from a friend. It hurts, yes, but the pain is like that of fixing a dislocated finger. Popping the finger back into joint can be excruciating, but it leads to health. We can now function the way we are supposed to. When we repent, in that area of our lives we’re no longer working against the Holy Spirit within us.

I’m not encouraging anyone to become a sin hunter. But there will be times where our kindness to our friends will lead us to confront in love, helping them to turn back to the God who loves them.

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Links for the Weekend (2023-09-01)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

The Sermon on the Mount Is Not an Impossible Standard to Make Us Feel Bad

Sometimes a fresh look at a familiar text is just what we need. The Sermon on the Mount has been misused by many Christians as merely a way to feel guilty. But that’s too shallow a view of this sermon!

The comfort, however, is the truth that our triune God never leaves us. Though we are intent to destroy ourselves and everything around us, he is faithful to keep moving history toward redemption. When he makes a covenant, he keeps it. When we break the covenant, he still keeps it. Though he may feel distant at times, we know he has never left us—Pentecost is proof. Every promise of God has come true, and the Holy Spirit brings the triune God’s comforting presence into our hearts, come what may.

No Fear of Old Age

Tim Challies writes about getting older as living the last part of a story.

Yet these years are also precious in the eyes of God and are meant to be embraced rather than dreaded or denied. Old age is the final part of God’s plan for us before we depart earth for heaven. It is the closing chapter of a story. It is the culmination of a tale that has been told since birth. And why should we fear the ending of a story? Why should we despise the fact that a story begun must also end? Should we not anticipate it as the beautiful final act? Should we not determine to close the story in a way that is beautiful and admirable and honoring to God? 

I’ve been nice, but now I am ready to be kind.

Here’s a creative reflection on the distinction between niceness and kindness.

Almost any thesaurus will list “nice” as a substitute for “kind.” But I’ve always thought of kindness as a thing with teeth. And a spine. The toned arms of goodness. Something that grips, holds on when things get tough, does the right thing, says the right thing, even when others disagree. Kindness cares, not just about feelings but about the ultimate good.

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here. 

Links for the Weekend (2/12/2021)

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Each Friday, I’ll post links to 3–5 resources from around the web you may want to check out.

10 Brief Reflections on an Elder’s Character

With officer nominations opening at our church on Sunday (February 14), and with the importance of a man’s character in the qualifications for elder and deacon, this seemed like a good article to promote first this week. As you consider nominating men for church office, please prayerfully consider their character!

The Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness

Kindness seems in short supply these days. Megan Taylor wrote about the nature of true kindness as well as its counterfeit.

Without the Spirit, although our kindness may look as if it is directed towards others, it is brimming with self-love and fueled by pride and fear of man. Without a connection to the True Vine, we can only show false kindness. What is false kindness? False kindness is being useful to others only when it is useful to me. False kindness has contingencies. It will appear at advantageous times, such as when we are being observed, or around those we like, or to get what we want. False kindness is touted by the world as a slogan or a feeling. False kindness is Judas Iscariot feigning concern for the poor while skimming off the top of the money bag.

Pruned to Bear Fruit

Dawn Hill has written a moving reflection on Jesus’s vine-branches analogy in John 15. What does it mean that we—as the branches—are pruned, and that God is the one doing the pruning?

The branches are not the focal point. This is the focus: the vine. The tree. This is what gives life to the branches. It is what causes those branches to be fruitful, stubs abiding in the vine while being nourished to flourish so that more fruit can come forth in due season. It comes full circle in John 15, doesn’t it? Apart from Him we can do nothing. Jesus is the vine. He is the focus. We exist to glorify Him and to bear fruit testifying of the Vine.

On the WPCA Blog This Week

This week on the blog we published an article I wrote called Pray According to God’s Character. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out!

Note: Washington Presbyterian Church and the editors of this blog do not necessarily endorse all content produced by the individuals or groups referenced here.