The Heart of God's Nature

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, 

love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

1 Peter 3:8

All of our being should be oncentrated on being like our perfect example, Jesus Christ.  We can’t profess God to others with our mouth and point them to hell with our actions. Which means we must demonstrate every last one of His attributes including kindness.

Kindness, unfortunately, is vastly underrated and yet without God's merciful kindness, where would we be?

For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord.  Psalm 117:2 

God's kindness is born out of His love whereby He extends grace, mercy, forgiveness, long suffering, etc.

How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.  Psalms 36:7

When the children of Israel came together for the hearing of the word and to worship; this is one of the things they noted about God as it related to their forefathers:

But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.    Nehemiah 9:16-17

Where do we fit in this picture?  The Bible sets the pattern for all kindness in the behavior of God toward mankind. God gives sunshine and rain, fruitful seasons and glad hearts, food and all that is good to the just and the unjust alike.

That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.  Matthew 5:45

Do you consider how much we grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not walk out His attributes?

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  Ephesians 4:30

It bodes well with us to look into God's kindness as it pertains more directly to His spiritual purpose. God's love for us brought acts of kindness to bring us to Him.  The inspired words of Zacharias following the loosing of his tongue are rich and profound in meaning for us:

To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:77-79)

God is love, and love is kind, but perhaps we don't see that. The Scriptures reveal that God does kindness with intensity of will and readiness of mind. He forgives with all His heart because He delights in mercy! He says, 

"I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies."  Ezekiel 18:32

God's nature works:

to give mercy, not punish; 

to create beauty, not destroy; 

to save, not lose. 

All of this is done because of His attribute - defined as a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something - known as kindness.  Can we not see a lesson in this?

Are we anywhere near God's image in this? How many of us, fellowshipping among God's people; indeed in the world, are hiding resentment and bearing the seeds of bitterness against a brother or sister because of some offense—or carrying a grudge, or filled with envy, or communicating gossip? Are these things acts of kindness? Does a forgiving spirit that delights in mercy enter into acts that destroy a person's reputation and widen existing divisions?

God shows us the loving kindness inherent in Him in that: "He visited us." God did not merely pity us from a distance, nor did He allow His compassion for us to remain as an unresolved, inactive feeling.  Nor did He hold our sins against us.  But with loving kindness, He offered us salvation through Jesus.

Whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)

God did just that!  King David pondered the kindness of God:

"What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?"  Psalm 8:4

Apostle Paul states:

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.   (Hebrews 2:14-18)

God has not merely pitied us from a distance, but He entered into life, our life, on our level; our mortal state. The Creator stooped from His high and pure abode as glorious God, and veiled His divinity in a mortal body. He assumed our nature, was tempted in all things like us, took our sicknesses and bore our infirmities for the express purpose of being a merciful and faithful High Priest. He entered into our world and yet maintained a status superior to us. He truly walked in our shoes and still went about doing good.

"Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."  Galatians 1:4

Who knows how many individual acts of kindness—from the conception of the plan to its fulfillment—are contained within that simple scriptural statement?

God generously and mercifully gives that others might benefit. This is the heart of God's nature. Now, because of what He did, this nature is growing in us. By His Spirit, He infills us with His Holy Spirit to enable us to work out our salvation, and as we yield, our lives are changing, gradually conforming to His image. He dwells in us despite all our provocations, stubbornness, neglect and rebellions. How often we must disappoint Him, and yet as our High Priest and Intercessor, He stands ever ready to serve us with yet more kindness.  It may not be a blessing in the way that we define or view blessings, but consider it was His loving kindness that work us up this morning whereby giving us yet another opportunity to get right with Him.  

Apostle Paul urges us to put on kindness.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;  Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.   Colossians 3:12-13

The very fact that He urges us to dress ourselves with this virtue signifies that none of us has "arrived" spiritually. All of us are flawed, deficient and weak in some respects. As we yield and develop these virtues, we must be forbearing and forgiving toward our brothers and sisters in and out of the body of Christ on the basis of Christ's example of forbearance and mercy toward us. The enabling power of God's Spirit is already within us, or this exhortation would be in vain because you wouldn't have anything to work with!

But, because we do, it can be done if we will choose to humble ourselves and act when we become aware of the need of another or of the church itself. God calls upon us here not merely to act but to do it with affection. In all cases, we must let our heart dictate to our hand, to let our most tender feelings encounter the miseries of those in distress, just as God did in descending to clothe Himself in mortality. We need to let our feelings be at hand and readily touched that we might open our hands wide in help.

Unfortunately, we have allowed this world to hardened us. We have seen so much arrogance and cruelty that God warns that at the end people will be "without natural affection" 

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good.   2 Timothy 3:1-3 

We are this end-time generation, and we must go a long way even to start to be like Christ in kindness. But we can do it!  We can liken beginning to be like to learning to swim by just "jumping in." Kindness is something that we must develop, and we can do it because God has already enabled us by His Spirit. This fruit is especially sweet tasting and a major factor in producing unity.

Never forget God's character, His example and this promise He has given to us: 

‘For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has mercy on you."  Isaiah 54:10

Kindness is the full flow of natural affection supported by benevolent action, as seen between David and Jonathan.

And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.   1 Samuel 18:1

In our human relationships, we want others to sacrifice themselves for us, yet it seems so hard to reciprocate the same toward others on a continual basis. Nevertheless, self-sacrifice is the essence of true Christianity, and we can begin by the kind use of the tongue.
Apostle Paul tells us to "be kind to one another." 

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;  Romans 12:10

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

Peter says to "add brotherly kindness" to the other godly virtues God is developing in us. 

And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.  2 Peter 1:7 

Living according to God's instruction, following the example of Christ and aided by the Holy Spirit, we produce the wonderful, spiritual fruit of kindness.  We become living, walking examples of the kindness of God.

We express Christian kindness in mercy, compassion and love toward others which also includes being zealously affectionate toward God and His church.  Just like love:

Kindness is an action not a thought.

Jesus' life epitomized kindness—love in tender action.

Kindness is goodness in action,

goodness of heart expressing itself in deeds

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 

1 John 3:18

It is grace, tenderness, mercy, compassion—self-sacrificing tender action on behalf of others. We have very few opportunities to do "great" acts of kindness for others, but scarcely an hour passes that fails to present us a chance to perform some minor and unnoticed word or act of kindness.

Kindness - Pass It Forward

(Biblical Studies)


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