Kindness of God
Galatians 5:22 “but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control”.
Romans 2 verse 4 NLT, “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant,
and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you
see that His kindness is intended to turn you from your sin”? Father God
shows us kindness to open our hearts to repentance. What an amazing
God.
This picture of the character of our Lord and Friend is very different from
the way many people view God today. He is often perceived as an
angry God who can’t wait to chastise us when we do wrong; but this
Scripture says that He shows us kindness, in order to lead us to
repentance; so that we will change the way we think and our view of
Him; that we might turn and choose to walk in His ways.

Psalm 139:5 in The Passion Translation says “You’ve gone into my
future to prepare the way, and in kindness you follow behind me to spare
me from the harm of my past. You have laid your hand on me.” I love
this thought. NKJV puts it like this “You have hedged me behind and
before and laid Your hand upon me.” We are hedged around about with
His Presence.

When we practice kindness, we can experience positive mental and
physical changes through lowering stress levels and increasing the
body’s production of feel-good hormones.
So when the Scriptures exhort us in Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you”; our Lord and Friend is thinking of our benefit, wanting us to live in
abundant life.

Shalom. Kath