Fruitful Living
The fruit of Kindness
• Kindness is a chritsian value
“But the fruit of the Spirit is kindness.” – Galatians 5:22 (NIV)
INTRODUCTION
Kindness is a basic need of every human. Down through the ages, many efforts have been made to motivate and reward people in order to meet this need at different levels. Sermons have been preached, coaching done, books written, and other measures taken to appeal to our shared humanity to help us to open the blocked reservoir of the “milk of human kindness.” May the LORD Himself pour into our hearts this milk and make us bear this fruit of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
1. KINDNESS, ALWAYS APPLYING THE GOLDEN RULE
- Prejudice blocks the way of those who would like to practise the Golden Rule.
- Kindness starts with caring; being tender-hearted and compassionate toward others. We must make it our goal and habit to be actively looking for opportunities to show kindness.
- Kindness is listening to the hurt even if they are not our kind, or even if they don’t adhere to our religion.
- Kindness is applying the Golden Rule to all – even those beyond our sociological or ethnic circle. ‘Do to others what you would have them to do to you’ – Matthew 7:12, is the key to a majestic kindness that changes the world.
2. KINDNESS, ANGER WASHED BY GRACE
Kindness is the hallmark of God’s control of our lives. People who have submitted themselves to God’s control exhibit this grace. What is the evidence of kindness in life? Kind people are interruptible. They can stop what they are doing and care for others.
Jesus’ biography appears sometimes a haphazard hodgepodge of good deeds. Why is this so when He came to establish the kingdom of God? Because Jesus’ compassion allowed Him to be interrupted by the need of others; His great heart of kindness could not pass by anyone’s call for help. So He established the kingdom, but never by being unkind to the needy who thronged about Him throughout His ministry. Kindness is controlling our emotions and allowing the needs of others to interrupt our scheduled lives.
The world is looking for kindness. When people see our lives of openness and accessibility, then God opens a door for us to minister to them. In fact, kindness paves the way for our service. Kindness brings God close to those who need Him.
3. KINDNESS AS A WORLD VIEW
Amos 5:11-13 tells us the story of kindness by showing what unkindness is. The unkind in Amos’s day built stone mansions, elaborately landscaped with lush vineyards. Yet, they continued to take from the poor. Amos points to the unkind and calls them to repentance. He promises that judgement will come upon those who continually disregard the need of others.
Despite our own comfortable existence, we can become overwhelmed with the needs of the world. We wonder how one person can make any difference. We find we have little time to spare for the poor. Kindness is our willingness to care about others who may not have our standard of living. But the bottom line is that God expects our compassion. Citizens of God’s kingdom model the attributes of God and help others. God desires our kindness to spread His healing to others. As we show kindness to others, we share God with them and take away their sorrows. Surely kindness and empathy will heighten our own relationship with Christ.
4. KINDNESS AND OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST
God is kind, and His ultimate display of kindness was the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of all people. God loved the world so much that His kindness was spent to the very last drop of Christ’s blood. God created humanity to glorify Him, yet humans sinned and did not glorify Him. In fact, human rebellion required God to answer humanity’s sin with the life of His Son. The kindness of God leads the world to repentance. What a heavy penalty must be levied against all those who see the kindness of Calvary and walk past it unchanged.
5. KINDNESS, THE APPROACH TO GRACE
Josiah experienced the kindness of God first-hand (2 Chronicles 34:19-28). He understood God’s kindness when he became the recipient of God’s grace. Josiah knew his people and nation had sinned and forgotten God. Yet this king received incredible news from God: Josiah would be spared from disaster. His humility and contrition had led to forgiveness. God demonstrated grace to Josiah through these simple words, ‘I have heard you’.
When we consider God’s redeeming love in our lives, we are able to separate the smaller, everyday kindness of God from the truly great kindness of being spared from punishment for our sins. That is the grace of God and the kindness of Christ. Kindness and grace are sisters, if not identical twins. Martin Luther wrote that Jesus’ kindness is but God’s approach to grace and that we would do well to emulate Jesus’ kindness.
PRACTICAL WAYS OF SHOWING KINDNESS
- All humans continually enjoy the kindness of God and man on a regular basis. It might not be in the form or amount that we expect, but when we reflect on it, we will find ourselves as beneficiaries of more acts of kindness than we previously thought. And once we are beneficiaries, we need to become donors.
- Being kind is not as difficult as many make it out to be. When linked to the right Source—Jesus Christ, through His indwelling Spirit—every human will become a healthy, fruit-laden branch of kindness, offering the fruit to people within our close spheres of influence and beyond.
- Kindness is not a cloak that we can put on and off at will, but a way of life that we must adopt. If we are kind, it will reflect in our thoughts, words and actions. In our minds, kindness will prevail over hasty judgements, condemnation of others, evil suspicions, and surmising, evil plotting, anger, envy, jealousy, and hate will have no place there.
- If we are kind, our words will be seasoned with grace. Insults, slander, gossip, lies, curses and other foul words will not proceed from our mouths nor will we utter blasphemy. We will encourage, bind, heal, bless and spread sunshine to others with our words. Harsh, angry, resentful words will find no place on our tongue, and nothing that stings, shocks, or shames will we speak to another.
- Kindness in our actions will be manifest in thoughtful deeds and the offer of understanding, acceptance, and forgiveness to all, restitution to those we have wronged, restoration of the repentant, relieving of burdens of the young, the old, the sick and suffering. We will respond to observed needs and give hope to those bowed in shame and pain.
To Ponder: “kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.” As you sow the seeds of the unique message of the gospel to others, remember to water it liberally with kindness, in your thoughts, words, and actions. Then, watch it grow – Frederick William Faber
Stay blessed!
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By Dr Joyce Aryee, the author
4. Correct the falsehood
If someone misrepresents Muhammad (pbuh), teach people who Muhammad (pbuh) really was.
Tell them about his mercy.
Tell them about his justice.
Tell them about his patience.
Tell them about his forgiveness.
5. Report genuine offences
Use lawful channels.
The Muslim does not become the police, prosecutor, judge and executioner.
6. Protect the innocent
If one Christian insults Islam, do not attack another Christian who knows nothing about it.
If one Muslim makes an offensive statement, do not blame all Muslims.
7. Restore peace
After the controversy, bring responsible Muslim and Christian leaders together.
Talk.
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Clarify.
Forgive where forgiveness is appropriate.
And rebuild trust.
Ghana must not become a battlefield of religious provocation
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
Let us look around Ghana.
Muslims and Christians have lived together for generations.
We have Muslim fathers with Christian in-laws.
Christian mothers with Muslim sons-in-law.
Muslim and Christian business partners.
Muslim and Christian neighbours.
Muslim and Christian classmates.
Muslims and Christians serving together in the military, police, public service, universities, hospitals, markets and businesses.
This is Ghana.
We must protect this peace.
Religious freedom is precious.
But religious freedom comes with religious responsibility.
A microphone is not a weapon.
A pulpit is not a battlefield.
A smartphone is not a licence to spread hatred.
A viral video is not a fatwa (religious decree).
And anger is not evidence.
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A word to Muslim scholars
To my fellow Imams and Islamic scholars:
Allah has placed a trust upon our shoulders. You are the best of generations selected for the guidance of mankind. Quran chapter 3:110.
When people are angry, we must calm them.
When people are confused, we must educate them.
When people want revenge, we must teach justice.
When people want violence, we must remind them of Allah.
Our microphone should extinguish fire—not pour petrol upon it.
The Prophet said:ِ
لَيْس َ الشَّدِيد ُ بِالصُّرَعَةِ، إِنَّمَا الشَّدِيد ُ الَّذِي يَمْلِك ُ نَفْسَه ُ عِنْد َ الْغَضَب
“The strong man is not the one who can overpower others; rather, the strong man is the one who controls himself when angry.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, 6114; Sahih Muslim, 2609)
This is strength.
Self-control is strength.
Restraint is strength.
Wisdom is strength.
Justice is strength.
A word to Christian preachers
And to our Christian brothers and sisters, especially those who preach:
We Muslims deeply revere Jesus (peace be upon him)
He is not an ordinary man in Islam.
He is ʿĪsā ibn Maryam عليه السالم, a mighty Messenger of Allah.
The author is the Chief Imam of Katamanso Municipal and Certified Counsellor and Governance Expert.
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When Paul tells us that our “attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus,” he had summarized in the previous two verses what such an attitude was: selflessness, humility, and service. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” – Philippians 2:3-4.
In other words, the attitude a Christian should reflect is one that focuses on the needs and interests of others. Without question, that does not come naturally to us. When Christ came into the world, He established a whole new attitude to relationships with others. One day when His disciples were arguing among themselves regarding who was to be greatest in His kingdom, Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” – Matthew 20:25-28. Jesus is teaching us that, when we become preoccupied with our own things, it can cause conflicts and other problems with people we know. Instead, God wants us to have an attitude of serious, caring involvement in the concerns of others.
Paul speaks more about this Christ-like attitude in his letter to the church in Ephesus: “that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.– Ephesians 4:22-24. Many religions of today, including the New Age philosophies, promote the old lie that we are divine or that we can become gods. But the truth of the matter is that we will never become God, or even a god. Satan’s oldest lie was promising Adam and Eve that, if they followed his advice, “- and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5, NKJV.
Each time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us, we’re only demonstrating that we want to be a god. But we must understand that, as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want us to try to become gods. Instead, He wants us to become like Him, taking on His values, His attitudes, and His character. We are meant to “be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” – Ephesians 4:23-24.
Finally, we must always keep in mind that God’s ultimate goal for His children is not our comfort, but the transformation of our minds into the attitude of godliness. He wants us to grow spiritually, to become like Christ. This doesn’t mean losing our personalities or becoming mindless clones. Christlikeness is all about transforming our minds. Again, Paul tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” – Romans 12:2.
It is God’s will that we develop the kind of mindset described in the Beatitudes of Jesus – Matthew 5:1-12, that we exhibit the fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22-23, that we emulate the principles in Paul’s great chapter on love – 1 Corinthians 13, and that we strive to pattern our lives after Peter’s characteristics of an effective and productive life – 2 Peter 1:5-8.
Establishing our actions in righteousness
Every person is commanded to live up to divine standards.
a. In the words of Jesus
“ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Be ye, therefore, perfect, even as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect” – Mt. 5:20, 48.
Every person in the world is required to live up to that standard. You say, “You’ve got to be kidding!” No, I’m not. You are obligated to live up to that standard with a pure inside as well as a right outside. But you say, “I can’t!” You are absolutely right. That’s why we are given the solution…
b. In the words of Paul
As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;– Rom. 3:10, 21-22a.
Though you can’t obtain on your own the righteous standard Christ set, you can receive His righteousness if you are one of those who believe. Isn’t that great? God set the holy standard. And when you acknowledge that you can’t live up to it, He says, “My Son is not only the Lawgiver, but He is the Redeemer as well, who makes it possible for you to live on that level.” Beloved, it’s a fantastic thing! The standard is so high we can’t obtain it. But Christ met that standard and imputes to us His righteousness. Oh, what a blessed thing!
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