Be Kind to One Another

I love this definition of “kindness” from Wikipedia which states that “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern and consideration for others. It is considered a virtue and is recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

“Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”

But something preceded this verse of showing kindness. Verse 31 says, “Let ALL bitterness, and anger, … be put away from you”. That means there is no exception of what should be kept away. This tells us the extent to which a Christian should go on forgetting the old self and renewing it with “kindness” which is the new self.

Apostle Paul urged believers and not only the Ephesians “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called (Eph 4:1). This is part of showing kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness to one another. When we have a soft heart, we will find it easy to be kind, sympathetic, loving, considerate, humane, caring and be easily moved when someone else is in distress. But when we feel less concerned about others and don’t care what happens to their lives, then we need to pause and think about our Christian life and faith. Christianity is about love, it’s about a relationship, it’s about feelings, it’s about forgiveness… Holding on to what the Apostle Paul listed in verse 31, will affect us from showing kindness, tenderheartedness and forgiveness to others. We cannot claim that we love God if we do not love our fellow beings. Why do we ask for God’s forgiveness and expect him forgiven us when we failed to forgive one another of the little things they have done to us against a lot of things we do to God every second? God’s forgiveness is costly and real, so ours should be!

Beloved, learn to put a little smile on someone’s face, be sympathetic and be there to help when someone is in distress and learn to forgive as your Heavenly Father forgives you. This is what Christianity stands for!