The Fruit of Holy Spirit – 5

The Fruit of Holy Spirit – 5

Subject: Walking in the Fruit of the Spirit - Kindness

By Rick Welborne

Galatians 5:22-26 (NKJV)
²²  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
²⁴  And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.  

²⁶  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

--We have already looked at the fruit of the Spirit…love, joy, peace, and longsuffering, tonight we will be looking at kindness which will be one of the most important. 

Kindness -  the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Synonyms: kindliness · kind-heartedness · warm-heartedness · tender-heartedness · goodwill ·

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary – Kindness - An attribute of God and quality desirable but not consistently found in humans. Yet human imitation of God's kindness does not come naturally. In fact, ultimately no one is kind. It is only as the fruit of God's Spirit that kindness can be a consistent part of the believer's experience.

Romans 3:10-12 (NKJV)
¹⁰  As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
¹¹  There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
¹²  They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one." 

--I love Jensen Franklin’s transparency about his difficulty with being kind especially in the environment of the home. He said that when he was single, kindness did not seem to be an issue.

--He said that he did not turn into some kind of monster or anything like that, but married life was so different than being single. It was not just him anymore. 

--When you see the person you have fallen in love with just a couple of times a week and you are anticipating the day you get married…kindness seems so wonderful and so easy.

--How many of you have ever heard, you really do not know someone until you live with them. No longer can you hide your feelings are your little pet peeves…everything is out in the open.

--The man you thought was your prince charming has all kinds of bad habits that you never knew he had from belching, to leaving the toilet seat up, and leaving toothpaste all over the sink. Just clean it up!

--You can’t hide the fact that you are in a bad mood, your impatience is on display, your lack of interest is obvious to the person before you. It is definitely different when you get married.

--If that is not enough to put a damper on kindness…start having kids and bringing them into the relationship. This little gift from God pees, poops, and screams for seemingly no reason. 

--He’s colic, he’s cutting teeth, he’s hungry…he’s whatever and you do not know what the whatever is because he can’t talk yet. Please do something with that thing…put a plug in it.

--It’s your turn to get up with him…no, I got up last time. No, you slept last time while I got up and rocked him for two hours. But I’m tired…I’m tired too! 

Ephesians 4:30-32 (NLT2)
³⁰  And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
³¹  Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior.
³²  Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. 

--How many of you know that we need supernatural power from God to be able to put on kindness the way God wants us too? 

Vine’s Biblical Dictionary – Kindness – willingness to serve someone – to be good – to be gracious – to be kind. 

Luke 6:31-36 (NKJV)
³¹  And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
³²  But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
³³  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
³⁴  And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
³⁵  But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
³⁶  Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

1. Kindness can be as simple as the golden rule.

Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do you.

--Kindness is treating others the way you want to be treated. Pastor, what if they are not treating me right? Wrong question! Jesus said for you to treat them the way you want to be treated.

--When we treat those who are mistreating us the way we want to be treated (kindness)…we are showing them the love of Christ and we are showing them supernatural kindness. 

--Rude people do not know what to do when we show usual kindness to them. It is truly a glimpse of the love Jesus had for us when He went to the cross. Watch this:

Luke 23:32-35 (NKJV)
³²  There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
³³  And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.
³⁴  Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." And they divided His garments and cast lots.
³⁵  And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."

--It is amazing to us that Jesus would pray such a prayer for those who would falsely accuse Him, who would humiliate him by putting Him between criminals, stripping His clothing, mocking Him.

--What would His kindness have Him to pray? Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. Our reaction to them would probably be much different. One of anger and retaliation. 

--Jesus was showing us a way of kindness that is so opposite our human nature but so much like His life and sacrifice for each of us.

2. Kindness is not about saving ourselves.

Matthew 27:41-43 (NKJV)
⁴¹  Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said,
⁴²  "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.
⁴³  He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 

--"He saved others; Himself He cannot save.” Is that a true statement? Of course, it is not a true statement. Jesus had the power and the ability to save Himself at any moment. 

--Remember early in Jesus ministry when those who would do Him harm came to take Him by force and hurt Him but the Bible says that He walked right through the middle of them undetected. He could have done that.

--Remember when He was in the garden and they came to arrest Him and they asked Him if He was Jesus? When He answered, I am He? They fell to the ground because of His great power. Watch this:

Matthew 26:51-53 (NKJV)
⁵¹  And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
⁵²  But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
⁵³  Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?

--A legion of angels could have been 6000 angels so 12 legions of angels could have been 72,000 angels. Jesus could have had them at His disposal but His kindness said no. Two angels destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. 

--The truth is, Jesus did not come to save Himself, He came to save others. When you find yourself in a challenging situation, who are you trying to save?

--Are you trying to save your reputation or your pride when you are under attack or do you show kindness and try to save others? We say we want to show them Jesus but we act like the devil. 

--One of the toughest ways of exemplifying kindness is when we are under attack by others and we make the choice to keep silent and not to react or, even worse, over react.

3. Kindness is following Jesus’ model.

Philippians 2:1-11 (NKJV)
¹  Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
²  fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
³  Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
⁴  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
⁵  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
⁶  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
⁷  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
⁸  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
⁹  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
¹⁰  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,
¹¹  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

--Because you love Jesus and because you love people you show the fruit of the Spirit ‘Kindness’ by being and acting like Jesus did when He was here on this earth. So much is in these verses.

1. To show kindness, let nothing you do be done out of selfish ambition or by being conceded. 3

2. To show kindness, humble yourself and esteem others better than yourselves. 3

3. To show kindness, don’t only look out for your interests but the interests of others. 4

4. To show kindness, have the same mind that Jesus had. 5

5, To show kindness, stop worrying about your reputation and become a bond servant. 7

6. To show kindness, humble yourselves, take up your cross, and die to yourselves. 8

7. Showing the fruit of kindness is allowing God to exalt you and Him taking care of your name. 9