Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness…

I have written about this verse in previous devotions but today we look at it for the inclusion of the word kindness, our focus this month. It is a frequently quoted verse, so you probably already have some understanding of what it says, but we’ll go over it to be certain.

The fruit of the Spirit (singular, not fruits) is all of the things that follow - love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. It is the evidence of our faith in Christ. We do not earn salvation or any of the things collectively known as the fruit of the Spirit through what we do, or works, but we receive it through faith in Christ. And then that faith is manifested as the fruit. It is our response to the transformation that has taken place within us.

One of the things that we exhibit is kindness. We purposely choose to show kindness to others. For some this is a natural response and part of their nature so it takes little effort to be kind to others. But for some, it is more challenging and requires them to purposefully treat others kindly, making an effort to choose kindness in response to others or situations. We all experience times when kindness is not our immediate response and we have to choose to react kindly. It takes a conscious effort to respond with grace, when we may not want to.

But luckily we have the Spirit within us so we have the power to respond appropriately with grace and kindness. When we don’t necessarily want to show kindness to someone, the Spirit within us gives us the ability to do it anyway. We just need to allow the Spirit to work in us and through us.

As believers let’s choose kindness when responding to others, whether we feel like doing it or not. Make a choice to respond with kindness and love today. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to show grace to others and fill you with kindness for others. He is there ready to give you all you need.

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