[Peter Eddington] Thank you very much, Teresa. Very, very beautiful piece of special music. Thank you for bringing that to us today. And good afternoon, everyone. Great to see you here at Sabbath Services here with us. It is a little bit sparse because we have kids at winter camp. That's one thing. ABC students are on break, but we have the winter youth camp for our teens underway right now. But I will say that our work in preaching the gospel continues on every day. Ads are still running. Programs are still on the air. Mail is still coming in. Things are being processed. So it never ends. Every morning when I wake up, the job is still there. We haven't reached every single person in the world yet. So we're working on it. So I appreciate your prayers for us as we do our part to preach the good news of God's Kingdom.

The topic I have for you this afternoon is about kindness. And on September 21, in 2021, so this is during the recent COVID pandemic, the BBC published an article by Claudia Hammond titled, "What We Do and Don't Know About Kindness." An opening paragraph reads thus. Since the pandemic began, people tell me they've been thinking a lot more about kindness. Perhaps it's because the cessation of normal everyday life has forced them to reconsider the values and what really matters in life. Kindness might once have been considered something of a soft topic, but it has begun to be taken seriously within academic research. And the article continues, when developmental psychologist Robin Banerjee, who is leading a new study on kindness in partnership with the BBC, surveyed past research, he found just 35 papers on kindness in psychological journals in the whole of the 1980s. Thirty-five. In the past decade, there were more than a thousand.

And the article then goes on to show what we know about kindness. They list acting kindly makes us feel good. Kindness is contagious. Acting kindly can make you feel less anxious. And they say even toddlers and children can be kind. But then the article asks, but how does this play out in everyday life? Are we kindest to friends and family, to people like us, or to strangers? It asks what prevents us from being kind. What are the most common kind acts people carry out? The article looks at kindness, though, from a very physical aspect, in a very physical way, from a very carnal perspective. But it does point out that in the past decade, the subject of kindness has been studied significantly. More than in times past, it's been a topic of considerable interest amongst psychologists. "Psychology Today," on December 6, 2022, so pretty much exactly a year ago, in an article titled, "Kindness and Its Benefits," by Dr. Shahram Heshmat, this article explained, "Kindness is about putting other people's interests first. Being kind to other people can have multiple benefits. However, to gain these personal benefits, you need to be sincere."

What I want to say here today, though, is that the fruit of the Spirit labeled kindness is much more than just you or me making people feel good. It's a spirit quality exhibited by a son or daughter of God. It's much more than just buying a cup of Starbucks coffee for a stranger. Way more than just doing a kind act for someone once in a while. What don't you know about kindness? The title of our message today is "What You Don't Know About Kindness." What you don't know about kindness. When developing the sermon and I was moving scriptures around and points around and thoughts around, I came to realize I actually had eight main thoughts that had come together. So I have eight points as a result as I reorganized things, and they do cross over. They actually kind of blend together after a while, some of the points. But let's begin in Ephesians 4 and read verses 31-32. And we'll see, first of all, the difference between human nature and kindness. Ephesians 4:31, here we see, first of all, the fruits of human nature first.

Ephesians 4:31-32 "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice." And then verse 32, though, says the opposite, "And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you."

So there's the opposite of human nature. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving. So let's get to our eight points about kindness and discuss what you don't know about kindness.

First of all, point one. Kindness is wanted. Kindness is wanted. How important is it? A piece by "Time" magazine on September 13, 2019 titled, "Here's What Young People All Over the World Say They Want Most in a Partner," by Belinda Luscombe, opened with this paragraph. "What do humans really want in a long-term partner? If people were given a limited menu of characteristics from which to choose, what would be the non-negotiables?" And it says, "In a nifty new report out of the University of Swansea in the UK, researchers got 2,700 college students from 5 countries to progressively narrow down which characteristics were most important to them in a lifetime mate. And the one that emerged from all cultures was kindness. I want to marry someone who's kind to me. And so it is a fact that people want to be treated kindly. It's wanted, but unfortunately have a harder time being kind themselves.

There was a large-scale study done of school bullies to learn why they bully other kids. The conclusion, most bully because they enjoy doing it. They enjoy bullying more than they enjoy being kind. Kindness is wanted, but you don't often get it. So this illustrates how cruel, mean, and sadistic raw human nature is. Kindness has to be learned. And many children are not being taught it. In fact, much of the media our children are exposed to does teach the opposite. It teaches violence and other terrible influences in media and entertainment cause people to become desensitized and calloused towards the needs and feelings of others. Kindness requires the opposite, caring concern for others. And kindness is wanted. Let's read Philippians 2:3-4, if you want to turn over there for a moment. Philippians 2:3-4. Kindness is wanted, and so that means somebody has to give it for that want to be realized.

Philippians 2:3-4 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others."

So kindness is something you have to do for others even maybe when you don't want to. It's not often easy to do even, but it is a fruit of God's Spirit. Kindness is needed and wanted. So then point two, the kindness we're talking about today, point two, kindness is of God. We're talking about the fruit of the Spirit here today. Kindness is of God. It's a godly attribute. When it comes to the fruit of the Spirit called kindness, we truly are talking about spiritual attributes, not just physical. It should be within the character of a person, within their heart and soul and mind when led by the Holy Spirit. I'm going to read to you Proverbs 16:2, if you want to jot it down.

Proverbs 16:2 Reminds us, "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes," we ourselves think we're pretty great, "but the Lord weighs the spirits."

The Lord weighs the spirits. God looks at our heart. He looks at our spirit and He weighs or compares our spirit to other spirits, especially compared to Him versus the spirit of evil. How do we compare to His Spirit versus the spirit of evil? To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, we must take action. We must bear fruit and much of it. We cannot be passive disciples. John 15:8 is a good passage to turn to here at this point about kindness being of God or kindness is of God. John 15:8, if you want to glorify God in your life, here's how you do it.

John 15:8 "By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit so you'll be my disciples."

If you want to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, you have to bear fruit. And it's godly fruit. It's the fruits of the Spirit as God weighs the spirits. True kindness is of God. It's an attribute of the Holy Spirit and we must grow that fruit in our life to be a disciple of Jesus to glorify our Father. The fruits of the Spirit are what we do, what we bear, as it says in John 15:8, what we grow in our lives. They are how we think and act as we go through life.

Really, the kindness we are talking about today is a proper divine kindness. A godly kindness. A good example of the fruit of kindness in action is a virtuous wife, in Proverbs 31, who diligently attends to the needs of her family and of many other people there. As we read in Proverbs 31, it's part of her nature, not just an occasional act of service.

Proverbs 31:20 Reads, "She extends her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy."

Proverbs 31:26 "She opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness."

It's in Proverbs 31, "On her tongue is the law of kindness." It's part of what she is, what she says, what she does as she reaches out her hand to the needy. So point two, may our tongues be guided by the law of kindness, which is of God, that we're talking about here today.

Point three, kindness is gentle. Kindness is gentle. The classic place to go in Scripture for a condensed list of the fruits of the Spirit is Galatians 5. But I want you to notice something here in Galatians 5, this is 22-23. We're going to read from the New King James, and then we're going to read from the King James versions. Let's go. How many of you are reading the New King James today here? So about a third. How many still have the old King James, the authorized version? About another third. Yeah, my Oxford Bible here that I've had for, you know, 40-some years, starting to fall apart a bit, but it's the authorized version. New King James reads a little smoother, though, for us.

Galatians 5:22 In the New King James Version says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness," So that's number five, kindness, right, "goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law."

That Greek word for kindness is christotes. Now the King James is similar but not quite the same. The King James says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace," okay, that's the same, "long-suffering, gentleness," so the King James Version translates kindness from chrestotes as gentleness, and then, "goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law."

And so we have gentleness or kindness listed as the fifth fruit of the Spirit. It's the same Greek word. At one time, the translators thought it should be kindness. Earlier, they thought it should be gentleness. The reason we find different translations saying either kindness or gentleness is because of the broad meaning of the Greek word chrestotes. It's kindness of heart and kindness of act. It's gentle in approach. Chrestotes, it's C-H-R-E-S-T-O-T-E-S, chrestotes. It can mean useful kindness. You try to be kind to someone, but it's not really helpful or useful, you haven't really been kind. It means useful kindness. It refers to meeting real needs in God's way, in God's fashion. Strong's Concordance says chrestotes is a noun derived from chrestos, meaning useful, profitable, properly usable, well fit for use for what is really needed. So chrestotes means kindness or gentleness used in a way that is needed. So chrestotes, or divine kindness, is the sSpirit-produced gentleness which meets a real need and avoids human harshness. We have no English term that quite carries this notion of kind and gentle and good. Kind and gentle and good. We could say chrestotes means gentle kindness. Here is the fifth fruit of the Spirit. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 2. Look at another example of gentleness here for a moment, because kindness is gentle. 1 Thessalonians 2:4-8 is what I was going to read.

1 Thessalonians 2:4-8 "But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel," says the Apostle Paul, "even so we speak not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts." Remember, God tests the spirits, right? He tests our hearts not to please men, but to please God. Verse 5, "For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, not a cloak for covetousness. God is witness. Nor do we seek glory from men, either from you or from others when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ." He says we could have made demands, but we didn't. Verse 7, "But we were gentle among you." The Apostle Paul was a gentle leader of the brethren. He says, "Just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children," verse 8, "so affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, not just teach you the doctrines, but also our own lives because you have become dear to us."

The way the Apostle Paul treated the Thessalonian brethren was gentle, verse 7, not harsh."Not demanding," he says in verse 6. "Not seeking his own glory," he also says in verse 6. "And the brethren had become dear to him," as we read there in verse 8. See, chrestotes is the opposite of being harsh and austere. It's being gentle. If we're harsh and austere, we're not compassionate and merciful. Chrestotes means gentleness and kindness. It's the opposite of being rigid. It's treating others with patience. And this gentleness is a quality which pervades the whole nature of a person when led by God's Spirit. It mellows all that would have been harsh and austere. So if a person goes through life being harsh and austere towards others, there's a problem with the fruit of kindness. Kindness is gentle. And chrestotes can be translated either kindness or gentleness, as we see between the two different translations, and other translations too, depending on how they want to put it, as kind or gentle.

Number four, kindness is not weakness. Kindness is not weakness. We live in a society where gentleness and kindness are sometimes looked on as a weakness, not something for go-getters to be bothered with, for the rich and powerful to worry about. But if we want God to be kind to us, we'd better be kind to others.

Matthew 5:7 Reminds us, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

That's Matthew 5:7. We could add, blessed are the kind, for they shall obtain kindness. You have to be kind to receive kindness. You have to be merciful to receive mercy. "Psychology Today" has an article by experts discussing the perception that kindness is associated with weakness. That was in March 14, 2018. An article titled, "Why Is Kindness Sometimes Associated With Weakness?" And a couple of paragraphs in the article read like this. "There seems to be a perception that a kind person is soft and emotionally frail. Well, an individual who is rude and curt, even one who disparages kind efforts, more often than not is someone who's tough, socially intriguing, and even admirable."

Julia Brewer, a clinical psychotherapist in Boca Raton, Florida, adds, "Many people unfortunately believe that being kind or expressing kindness is a sign of weakness." And she says, "I wholeheartedly disagree. People shouldn't have to feel as though they must choose between being kind and being strong. It's not an either/or concept. One can be kind and be strong. One can be kind and be direct. One can be kind and firm. One can be kind and be tough. Are any of these kind combinations I note expressions of weakness?" she asks. "No, not at all." And this point of kindness is not weakness, point number four, is going to relate to a couple of other points as we go along as well. But kindness is not weakness.

Point five, kindness takes action. Kindness takes action. To be a disciple of Christ, we must bear fruit and much of it. That was in John 15:8 that we read a few minutes ago. We have to bear fruit. We cannot be passive disciples. The Apostle John says we can't just think about kindness, we have to actually do it. I'm going to reference here 1 John 3:18. I'll read to you 1

John 3:18. "My little children," says John, "let us not love in word, or in tongue, but in deed and in truth."

He's not saying you don't love when you speak, but he's saying, but love in deed and in truth. Here's how the New Living Translation puts it. "Let us stop just saying we love each other. Let us really show it by our actions." That's how the New Living puts it. It's not just saying we love each other, but show it by our actions. 1 John 3.18.

Kindness, which is an act of love, starts with caring, being compassionate toward others. God even wants us to be kind to animals, let alone people. Proverbs 12:10 tells us, "A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." So people that are cruel to animals, generally, are austere themselves and not kind to people. But God even wants us to be kind for the life of an animal. We must make it our goal and habit to actively be looking for opportunities to show kindness. Kindness takes action. We have to bear the fruits of the Spirit and grow them in our lives. When we see an opportunity, we need to act quickly before it's gone. People have many excuses, of course, for not showing godly kindness. I'm too busy. Maybe the person deserves his suffering. He deserves what he got. God is probably punishing him. But God doesn't accept our excuses for failing to show kindness. And as we mentioned earlier, lack of kindness is epidemic in our world today. And in the end time, the Apostle Paul accurately foretold a cold, hard-hearted world in the last days where kindness would be lacking.

Kindness in action include some kind of self-sacrifice on our part, generosity on our part often of our precious time even. And action can include just words. That is an action if you express kindness even through words from time to time, words of comfort, words of courtesy, compliments can be heartwarming acts of kindness as well. But that is an act. But our motivation for kindness should not be to impress people because the greatest rewards from God come when our acts of kindness are done humbly, quietly, and when practical, even anonymously. Because a favor done to get a benefit is not true kindness. You're looking for something out of it. Let's turn to Romans 15 and read the first 6 verses if you would. In Romans 15, the Apostle Paul describes an instance on how to apply kindness. This is how you make it practical in your daily life, practical even within the church.

Romans 15:1-6 Paul writes to the Romans and says, "We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak. We who are strong should bear with the weak. And not to please ourselves," he says. It's not to get some benefit. Not to get a favor in return. "Not to please ourselves." Verse 2, "So let each of us please his neighbor for his good leading to edification." In other words, be kind to your neighbor for his good. Verse 3, "Even Christ did not please himeself. As it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me." Christ took the burden on himself for us. Verse 4, "For whatever things are written before were written for our learning that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." Verse 5, "Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another according to Christ Jesus." And so we live in the same way as Christ lived, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So verse 6, he says, "Bear with the scruples of the weak, not to please ourselves."

Paul is telling the brethren, look, you're going to have to put up with each other even when you disagree about certain things. But he says, "Bear with one another. Be patient, be kind. Please your neighbor for his or her good." If we understand the difference between harshness and gentleness, if we understand what gentle kindness is, we learn to live with other people's views on things that we may not necessarily fully agree with. We say, that's okay. Of course, we do all hold to the core truth of Scripture and follow the direction God's Spirit is leading us, but there are certain differences we all have that we bear with one another on that we're kind about. But this kind of kindness takes action with our neighbor. Many times people are harsh, not kind. Perhaps it's because of their upbringing or their childhood. Maybe they were beat up as a kid and just became hardened. They have a hard time being kind. Some people have a hardened heart. Life has been unfair to them, and they just take it out on everybody else.

A huge factor in the world today is that many people are psychologically confused. They're wounded and scarred by being neglected, rejected or abused, especially during childhood. They can be full of depression, fear, anger, and suspicion of others. And people who have not been abused themselves may even still have absorbed those attitudes that were passed along by those who have been abused and lack kindness themselves. But here for our fifth point, remember, kindness takes action. Let us love not only in word or in tongue, but in deed, as we're told. Point six, "Kindness of Jesus is our yoke." Kindness of Jesus is our yoke. Now, this is a particularly important point. Jesus Christ can help us have gentle kindness through him.

I'm going to turn to Matthew 11 and read verses 25-30 here because this is a particularly important point.

Matthew 11:25-29 "At that time, Jesus answered and said, praying to the Father, 'I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight, all things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal him.'" So, of course, Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father to humanity. And then verse 28, he says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Verse 29, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle," or kind, "and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

So let's unpack these six verses a little bit here. Verse 25 reminds us that the babes of this world have been given God's understanding, not the wise, not the rich. When God calls us, we really are the unknown in the world. God called us to show what He can do with us through His Spirit, if we allow it. We can be proof of God's glory. How? The fruit God produces in us is not from within us. It's from Him. But we have to work at it. We have to submit to it. It's by His power through the Holy Spirit that it's all possible. We cannot do it ourselves. Even Jesus Christ said, "I can do nothing of myself." He needed the power from the Father. The true fruit of the spirit of kindness is from God. That, of course, was our point two, but it's related here to the kindness of Jesus being our yoke.

Verse 28 shows us how we can receive rest for our heavy laden souls, when we're stressed, when we're in trouble. You see, when we become a disciple of Jesus Christ, we receive rest. We receive peace of mind. We receive forgiveness. We receive hope. He will take our burden. And it's not just a physical rest every Sabbath for 24 hours. It's also a spiritual rest from the cares of this world. And on this day, the Sabbath, we are to renew our relationship with God and with Jesus Christ. We come together to renew our relationship with the Father as well. But now notice the important words in verses 29 and 30.

Matthew 11:29 Jesus says, "Take my yoke upon you."

Being under the yoke of Christ is true freedom. It's not bondage like you would think of a yoke. We think we want freedom, but there are only two yokes we can carry in life. We can be yoked to Christ. Or we can be yoked to evil, to the devil. It's our choice. There really is no other choice. It's a binary decision in our life. It's a zero or a one. One yoke drags you down until you die. The other yoke lifts you up until you receive eternal life, but you're yoked to something.

Also in verse 29, the returning powerful Jesus Christ, who actually will stand upon the Mount of Olives and destroy His enemies and destroy the beast with power, says, "Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest for your souls." So yes, He has power. He's also gentle and kind. Jesus wants us to realize if we'll be humble and repent of our sins, He will carry us through and give us rest. But now look closely at the word easy in verse 30.

Matthew 11:30 He says, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Easy there is the Greek word chrestos, from the same root word using Galatians 5 for gentleness or kindness, chrestotes. So the yoke Jesus places upon us is kind and gentle. It's easy. It's not harsh or austere. Jesus' yoke does not cut our neck or bruise our shoulder. It's gentle, easy, kind. It's chrestos.

This was a fascinating thing to note here about verse 30, that yoke is easy. It's gentle and kind, it could be translated. Jesus said, if you want to be connected to me, you'll find kindness. If you want to be under my yoke, you'll find it kind and easy. Remember, this is the being who will cast the false prophet into the lake of fire. He'll judge the world and its sin. But His yoke is easy if you'll submit to that yoke and not to the yoke of the devil. It's kind and gentle. And again, kindness is not a weakness, as some would see weakness. That was our point number four. Jesus has a perfect balance of judgment and kindness. Judgment and kindness. So the kindness of Jesus is our yoke. It's easy.

Point number seven, kindness is for everyone. Kindness is for everyone. Let's look at another instance of chrestos in Luke 6:35-36.

Luke 6:35-36 "But love your enemies, do good," once again, it takes action, "and lend, hoping for nothing in return." So it has to be for the right motivation. "And your reward will be great and you'll be sons of the Most High." So that, of course, is the ultimate promise of our salvation. "For He is kind." Once again the word chrestos. "He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil." Kindness is for everyone. Verse 36, "Therefore, be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful." Once again, kindness and mercy go together. "Blessed are the merciful." I typically also say blessed are the kind. "Be merciful just as your Father is merciful."

So again, here the word kind in verse 35 is from the same root word used for gentleness or kindness in Galatians 5 for the fruit of the Spirit, chrestotes. Jesus is kind to the unthankful and the evil. He truly wants the very best for all of mankind. But He also demands righteousness, doesn't he? God's goodness, which is also a fruit of the Spirit, goodness, does require punishment for sin. Gentleness and kindness require mercy. And God is both, a perfect balance of kindness and goodness. It's a remarkable attribute. He demands both kindness and goodness in a very perfect sense. And so you and I are to become chrestos in that way too, with goodness and strength in saying no to sin. Being kind and gentle is not a weakness because we still have the fruit of goodness and faithfulness and self-control. But we're kind and gentle in that strength when we demand goodness of ourselves and even of others.

Luke 6:36 Says, "There are times when we are to be kind to the unthankful and evil, to everyone. And there are times when we may even have to confront someone about it."

Parents have to do this all the time. There are times to confront our children for wrongdoing when we have to insist upon the fruit of the spirit of goodness. But we do it with chrestotes, with kindness. As disciples of Jesus, we do this often. We balance these two qualities into a perfect character. In line with this thought, a few verses earlier, here in Luke 6, Jesus does emphasize directly we must be kind to everyone, not just our family and friends.

Luke 6:30-35 Go back a few verses, "Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, so not ask them back." Verse 32, "But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." You know, cartel members love other cartel members, don't they? Verse 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." No, give to everyone. Verse 35, "For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." And if you do this, we're reminded in verse 35, "Your reward will be great and you'll be sons of the Most High."

So kindness is for everyone. And then number 8. 8, final point, kindness develops a new heart. Kindness develops a new heart. Life should be about love and service to others, is what we've been told. It's about kindness and gentleness. And this fruit of God's Spirit will take away hardness of heart. Some people have hardened hearts because of what's happened to them, because of what life did to them like kids with a rough upbringing. But life is also full of things that Satan throws at us. Sometimes it's because of mess-ups we create ourselves. We do it to ourselves. And so people can have a certain harshness to them as a result. I'm going to turn to Ezekiel 36. It's interesting to read Old Testament prophecy from time to time of how in the future God will pour out His Spirit on all of humankind, right, after Christ returns. "God pours out His Spirit after Jesus returns and sets up His government in Jerusalem. And with this, humanity is offered a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone, a heart of gentleness and kindness instead of an austere opposition to the ways of God that we see now, like we heard in the sermonette, those who refuse to believe in God."

Ezekiel 36:26, that's what I was going to read. Ezekiel 36:2, speaking of the millennium after Christ returns.

Ezekiel 36:36-38 "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you." A new spirit. This is not the human spirit. This is God's spirit. "I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." So instead of a stony heart, you'll have a fleshly heart. In verse 27, "I will put my Spirit within you." See, that's what develops this new heart, is God's Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit. "Put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." So it requires obedience. "And you'll keep my judgments and do them."

This change of heart is accomplished through God's Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit within us, results in all the fruits of the Spirit, of course, including chrestotes, gentleness and kindness.

Once again, like we said in point two, these fruits, like kindness, are of God, not human, that we're talking about here today. And so kindness develops a new heart. When we have problems with people, it's often helpful to ask God to remove their hardness of heart. Maybe it's the heart of your boss, or your landlord, or an austere neighbor. you pray to God to soften their heart. And that's what we often do, ask God to soften their heart. And that's what we often do, ask God to soften their heart like will happen eventually for everyone in the Kingdom. In the millennium, God is going to remove humanity's hard heart and we'll find a perfect balance between God's judgment for sin and His mercy and compassion. Jesus will enforce what is right from his throne in Jerusalem always standing up for righteousness but with kindness and chrestotes for everyone.

So the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness or kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and meekness are all aspects of God's character. You really can't separate them. Like I said, you can't really separate goodness from mercy from kindness. All are aspects of God's character. The fruit of God's Spirit comes as a package. And we have to know how to live in the Spirit, we're told. Live in the Spirit. Eventually, each fruit depends on another to create the perfect disciple of Jesus Christ, the perfect child of God. We have to put them all together. They're not the fruits of human nature. They're the fruits of God's nature. They can't be developed in a person simply because they are "religious," or simply buy a cup of coffee for a stranger. It's way deeper than that. They developed in us because we have an active relationship with God where His spirit leads and guides us.

When Jesus Christ practiced kindness, that was radical for His time for that culture. He always, for example, had great concern for women as well as men. That wasn't the norm. For children as well as adults. Remember, He picked the kids up and blessed them. For other races as well as the Jewish race. For the sick and weak, as well as the strong. He wasn't a respecter of persons that way. Often He wore himself out praying for people, healing people, feeding people, and helping them in other ways. It was tiresome, but He did it. When Jesus looked on the multitudes of people with all their problems, with their sicknesses and confusion, says He was moved, He was moved with compassion. When you're moved, you do something about it.

And as we look at the people around us too, we should be moved to act when needed. We too should be helping, giving, sharing, caring, encouraging, extending mercy, filled with compassion and acting on it as we are able, showing gentleness and kindness, that fruit of the Spirit, chrestotes. With each of us, may the fruit of kindness continue to blossom and grow. May we have our noses in Scripture and then live it. Read what is being said and put it into action. Think about it every day because the fruits of the Holy Spirit are the qualities of God that He's looking for in us as He grants us His Holy Spirit. These fruits God is developing in your life, in my life, so that, as Scripture says, we truly will be known as the children of God. And that's what it is to have God's fruit, His Spirit, is to become a child of God.