Fruit That Lasts · Aug 27, 2026
We use the words nice and kind like they mean the same thing, but Scripture is after something far deeper than nice. Nice is a pleasant surface. It is easy, it is free, and it usually costs us nothing. Kindness is a costly action. It asks for our time, our comfort, and sometimes our pride.
This week we are continuing our Fruit That Lasts series with kindness, the fruit that almost always requires us to lay something down. If you have ever tried to be genuinely kind on an already full day and found yourself running short, this episode is for you.
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Notice it says fruit of the Spirit, not fruit of our effort. Kindness is not something we manufacture through willpower. It is evidence that something living is happening inside of us.
Kindness is also an attribute of God before it is ever a behavior we produce. Romans 2:4 says it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. His kindness is never simply Him being nice to us. It is purposeful. It draws us back to Him and it changes us. Micah 6:8 gives us a beautiful picture of this, to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. Notice it does not just say do kind things. We are told to love kindness, because God is after our hearts and not only our behavior. And that is where the word cost matters. Kindness may cost us our time, our convenience, our comfort, or the last word we really wanted to have.
We live in a world that rewards speed and self-protection, not sacrifice. Being nice is free, but kindness interrupts our schedule, our budget, and our margin, and it rarely arrives at a moment we would have chosen. We are also wired to protect ourselves, so putting someone else's need ahead of our own comfort cuts against the grain.
If we are honest, most of us are only naturally kind to the people who can be kind back. Kindness toward someone difficult, ungrateful, or unable to repay is where we all hit our limit. Faith Chang names this pull in Peace Over Perfection, how quick we are to lean on our own goodness instead of resting in God's. When we forget how freely He has been kind to us, our kindness turns stingy and conditional. Think of Jonah, so angry that God showed kindness to Nineveh that he sat outside the city sulking about it. We do that in smaller ways all the time, quietly deciding who deserves our kindness and who does not.
Often it is not dramatic. It is a tone, a sigh, an impatient response, a look that says are you seriously asking me this right now. Kindness is usually communicated before we ever say a word. We can be helpful without being kind, accomplishing the task while making sure everyone knows what it cost us. We can keep a quiet scorecard, remembering who has and has not been kind to us and rationing ours out to match.
For many of us it shows up most at home. We are warm with a stranger and short with the very people who live under our own roof, the ones who get whatever is left at the end of the day. Remember the priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, who saw the wounded man and crossed to the other side. Busy, distracted, self-protective. We have all crossed to the other side when stopping would have cost us something.
Ephesians 4:32 says, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. That verse gives us both the source and the standard for Christian kindness. We are kind as God in Christ has been kind to us. Jesus did not wait until we became lovable before He loved us. He did not wait until we cleaned ourselves up before extending mercy. He moved toward us in our sin.
That is what makes Christian kindness different from simply being a nice person. We do not have to earn God's kindness, and we are not supposed to make other people earn ours. Christ's kindness changes the posture of our hearts from what do they deserve to how can I reflect what Christ has already given me. And when we fail, the gospel does not leave us in shame. It leads us to repentance and then sends us back out with grace.
Keep your eyes open. Kindness starts with noticing, the tired cashier, the friend who suddenly went quiet, the child who just needs a minute of you. Most kind moments are missed, not refused. We simply were not paying attention.
Kneel before you give. You cannot pour out a kindness you have not first received. Lisa Bevere writes in Adamant about dealing with our own hearts before God first, and then releasing His kindness to the people who need it. Time in His presence is what refills the well.
Keep it quiet. Do one kind thing this week that no one will ever know about. Jesus said do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Hidden kindness keeps the heart clean.
Keep going when it costs you. Real kindness almost always arrives at an inconvenient moment. Give the time, the ride, the help anyway. If it never costs you anything, it might just be politeness wearing kindness's name.
Keep no scorecard. Be kind to the people who can never pay you back. Luke 6 says God is kind even to the ungrateful, and we look the most like Him right there. And kindle it at home first, letting your family get your first and best kindness, not just the leftovers at the end of the day.
If you take nothing else from this episode, take this. Every bit of kindness you give is just an echo of the kindness God has already poured over you. A.W. Pink describes God's loving-kindness as chesed, a steady, covenant-committed affection that does not rise and fall with how we behave. Think of Boaz and Ruth, a poor foreign widow with nothing to offer, and yet he went out of his way to protect and provide for her and became her redeemer. That is a picture of exactly what God has done for us. So on the days your kindness runs thin, do not squeeze harder. Go back to the One who is endlessly kind and let Him fill you again.
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