Did you know the first fruit of the spirit is Love and that its offspring is “Patience”? No, neither did my study group. It happens to be a fruit that has a hard time growing on my vine. But God is “patient” with me and I am slowly learning that His time line is better than mine. I do wonder why, sometimes, that my loved ones cannot seem to grasp the importance of the role religion and belief in God should play in their lives. I am not sure if I did at their age either. It takes time for faith to grow deep and strong.
Another gift of the Spirit is “Kindness”. It too is a surprise to some.
I asked my Bible study ladies what attracted them to their husbands. (The variety of subjects in our Bible Study is quite astounding.) Beating out Good Looks, Personality, and Intelligence etc., Kindness, was the leader. That may surprise some of the men who think it is a wimpy sort of thing. Women are attracted to men who are kind. I think because kindness shows the ability to be self-sacrificing. It puts the other person first and the recipient responds immediately…someone opens a door for you, someone smiles a good morning, someone cares.
The other morning at a local shop a young man helped me carry out my bedding plants. He stopped to ask me what kind of a day I was having, remarked on my choice of plants and hoped I would enjoy them that summer. His gentle kindness made my day.
Unkindness truly hurts. It can also destroy you. An unkind act by a friend can feel like a betrayal. When the TV tells us stories of the atrocities in the world we see again and again how being unkind when taken to the extreme can cause terrible problems. It grieves the Spirit.
Hopefully today I will do no one harm, in thought, word or deed and my kindness to someone will put a smile on their face and maybe also make their day a bit better.
Photograph by Ken FUNAKOSHI from Yokohama, Japan (Drops on a plum) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
