The fruit of the Spirit is...kindness...

We now consider the next component of the fruit of the Spirit: kindness, the state or quality of being kind. Random House Dictionary (c) 2011 defines "kind" as "having, showing, or proceeding from benevolence." Hence, kindness is the state or quality of having, showing or proceeding from benevolence, that is, a "desire to do good to others; goodwill; charitableness." (From the same source.)

The Greek word from which "kindness" is translated in Galatians 5:22 is Chrestotes, which has the definition, "moral goodness, integrity; benignity, kindness." It is clear, that the word "kindness" is not one that has a controversial meaning. It amounts to having a benevolent or charitable nature. Now that is a pretty nice piece of fruit.

In looking into the uses of this word in Scripture, we find some interesting things. In the New King James translation, the word kindness appears 46 times. In 14 of those instances, we learn that kindness begets kindness. For example, after Saul, who hunted David relentlessly in order to kill him, was himself killed, David wanted to show kindness to his survivors, because Jonathan, Saul's son, had been kind to David. (2 Samuel 9)

I believe kindness is one of God's most powerful attributes, and as such, it is no surprise that the Holy Spirit would endow those whom He indwells with kindness. What is more compelling than kindness? One function of the Holy Spirit is to draw people to Jesus; another is to glorify Jesus. (John 16:14) That means to honor Him with praise, admiration, or worship. To whom are we more likely to be drawn, and whom are we more likely to honor with praise, admiration, or worship than someone who has shown us kindness?

In fact, no one in history has been a purveyor of kindness like Jesus, "in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Jesus told His disciples, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." (John 15:13) May we agree that such an act can only come out of a spirit of "goodwill; charitableness?"

I glean from this discussion that acts of kindness are acts of love. Recall that the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I have argued in a previous post that LOVE had to be the first component of the fruit of the Spirit, and here is corroboration for that position.

So, how shall this part of the fruit manifest itself? It is easy enough for us to be kind to others who have been kind to us; or to those for whom we feel love. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the disciples,

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?^" Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48, emphasis added.)

Am I wrong in believing that "love," "bless," "do good" and "pray for those" are words that suggest goodwill; charitableness? I think not. Jesus expects us to show kindness to our "enemies," "those who curse us," "those who hate us," and "those who spitefully use us." I don't know about you, Gunny, but I see that as a tall order. I don't think I can do that in my flesh. Perhaps, that is why the Holy Spirit endows us with His own kindness.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church,

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)

Can you see the power of kindness? When I was practicing dentistry, I learned (and this may come as a surprise to you) that dental patients can become adversarial at times. The best defuser of such situations, I eventually learned, was kindness. The meaner, the nastier, the more abusive a patient would become, the more solicitous and humble I grew, even when the patient was being entirely unreasonable. "Kill 'em with kindness" was the phrase I encouraged my staff to remember. The end result was invariably that the patient calmed down, and we were able to get to the root of his problem (you should pardon the pun.) Heaping those coals of fire on his head (perhaps not intuitively) cooled him off.

So, Corporal, let us walk in the Spirit, that we might bear the fruit of the Spirit, including kindness which overcomes evil with good.

Courtesy in warfare

Chuck Colson wrote, in his Breakpoint feature today, about "Embracing Courtesy." "What," you may ask, "does courtesy have to do with spiritual warfare? This is war!"

Remember, Soldier, when I wrote about the fact that the battlefield of this spiritual warfare is the human mind? Colson makes the point in his article that "today's political correctness has become a sort of secular alternative to the old Christian virtue of courtesy." But there is a difference between courtesy and political correctness, for, as Colson writes, "The virtue of courtesy is rooted in the idea of the imago Dei, the concept that each of us was created in the image of a loving God."

Political correctness, on the other hand is rooted in Marxism, which seeks to foment class warfare. It is Marxist theory applied to social engineering instead of economics. In essence, political correctness says (my apologies to Orwell), "All men are created equal, but some men are more equal than others." That is, "If you don't believe as I do, you don't deserve the freedom to express what you do believe."

When we view the world with a Christian world view, we see others as Paul did when he wrote to the church in Philippi,

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:3-8)

Courtesy is not taking sides. That is the nature of political correctness. Courtesy is recognizing each human being as imago Dei and esteeming him for the intrinsic value that status imparts. Political discourse in this country has devolved from the level described in the immortal words, often attributed to Voltaire, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

Civility in the political arena has all but disappeared, largely because, in a post-Christian world, people see those who have different opinions as creatures inferior to themselves and deserving extermination, not courtesy. But you, Soldier, living in the Spirit, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above [yourself], not looking to your own interests but...to the interests of the others."

The Bible exhorts us saints to "be holy," be "set apart for God." We are set apart when we view the world from Christ's perspective, seeing each human being as imago Dei. Courtesy is one way we reflect that holiness. When we are walking in the Spirit, our whole lives will reflect God's holiness. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi, "Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

Courage and Compassion

T. M. Moore, resident theologian at the Chuck Colson Center for Christian worldview, has written an article that we, as Christian soldiers would do well to read. It is titled, "The Courage to Oppose."

In the article, Moore explains something that true believers have known since Jesus taught his disciples:

¹⁸ “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’ (John 15:18-25).

The fact is that the world hates to be convicted of its sin. It hated it when Jesus did it, and it hates it when we shine our light on the darkness of this world.

Nevertheless, as soldiers in the Lord's army, we are called to

go...and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19-20)

I think, perhaps, the most important passage in Moore's article is this one:

But let’s make sure to observe how Paul did this – not in brash, loud, spectacular, or violent manner, but patiently, reasonably, dialoging and discussing the claims of the Kingdom against the false views of unbelief, inviting those with whom he spoke to consider the consistency and congruency of the Christian worldview against the backdrop of the inadequacy of their own. Paul argued gently and reverently with those he sought to persuade, and, if his conversation sounded like judgment, it was at least seasoned with grace and therefore more likely than not to be heard and pondered (2 Tim. 2:24-26; Col. 4:6).

How does the world view the modern church? Are we seen as the purveyors of a message of love and hope, or are we seen as narrow-minded, bigoted, uncaring fanatics who are not for anything but against everything? Where does such a viewpoint come from? Could it be, Sergeant, that we forgot in our fervor to spread the Word that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and not to belittle them with self-righteous judgment? Remember, when you are sharing John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,

to be constrained by John 3:17:

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

As Paul wrote to his protege, Timothy:

But you, O man of God...pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12, emphasis added)

We have the Truth on our side. We are fighting this war against the powers of darkness not for victory, but from victory.

Satan was defeated by our Commander-in-Chief on a hill called Golgotha, overlooking a garbage dump. He left us behind to mop up after the victory, to minister to those who have been wounded in the battle for their souls. Let us therefore, conduct ourselves with the courage of the Marine Corps and the compassion of the Medical Corps.

The fruit of the Spirit is...patience...

Patience: n.

1. Tolerant and even-tempered perseverance.
2. The capacity for calmly enduring pain, trying situations, etc.*

Are these words that describe you, soldier? They describe one of the components of the fruit of the Spirit. Notice that the fruit of the Spirit includes patience; but notice further that implicit in the above definition is the fact that, just because one is a Christ follower, he is not exempt from "enduring pain, [and] trying situations." Consider Hosea, called by God not only to be a prophet (Hosea 1:1), but also to marry a prostitute! (Hosea 1:2) Do you think that would require "tolerant and even-tempered perseverance?"

Wouldn't it be wonderful if becoming a Christian meant that you would never have any trouble again? That is, unfortunately, not the case. Instead, God has made another provision: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus certainly did not lack for pain and trying situations; but He did have the Holy Spirit. (Luke 4:1)

James writes,

"² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (James 1:2-4)

Apparently, God has a reason for allowing us to get into situations which require "the capacity for calmly enduring pain, trying situations, etc." They test our faith and produce patience. Remember, Lieutenant, God's mission is not to make you happy, but to make you holy. Consider Job. He lost his fortune, his family, his home, his health. His response?

"The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.(Job 1:21-22)

By contrast Job's wife quickly lost patience with her circumstances:

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
¹⁰ But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:9-10)

Why was Job blessed with patience, whereas his wife was not? Notice that Job's focus is on God: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." His wife on the other hand was focused on the circumstances. When she saw her husband covered with boils and scraping his skin with a potsherd for relief, she told him to "Curse God and die."

The Holy Spirit is the source of patience. (Galatians 5:22-23) Paul wrote to the Galatians: "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." (Galatians 5:17-19) He also wrote to the Ephesians:

...be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20, emphasis added)

This is a pretty succinct description of being filled with or walking in the Spirit. What is the essence of what Paul is saying here? Singing hymns, speaking psalms, making melodies to God in our hearts, and giving thanks in the name of Jesus IS walking in the spirit.

So, it appears that patience is a natural outcome of walking in the Spirit, which is merely this: focus on Jesus and not on this world. Impatience, by contrast is the result of walking in the flesh, as Job's wife did. When we focus on the "pain and trying circumstances," we inevitably become fearful, frustrated and impatient. When we focus on Jesus, who is bigger than our circumstances, the indwelling Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives, including patience.

In a previous post, I wrote about the fact that the battlefield on which our spiritual warfare is conducted is in the human mind. Putting on the full armor of God, (Ephesians 6:11) is a matter of walking in the Spirit, or focusing our minds on Jesus. Satan would like nothing better than to have you lose your patience. If you have lost your patience, it is likely that you are not walking in the Spirit. And that is when you are most vulnerable to Satan's attacks.

Remember, sailor, you are not fighting this war for victory; you are fighting this war from victory. Satan is already defeated, but he would like nothing better than to have you forget that and go down with him. So, put on the full armor of God...and have patience. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Still not sure?

Soldier, do you harbor just a little doubt that we are engaged in spiritual warfare against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil? Read Chuck Colson's Breakpoint for December 17, 2010.

As the Islamic jihadists are emboldened by the fact that western governments, which for the most part suffer from a lack of any coherent world view, stand paralyzed by the curse of political correctness, Christians around the world bear the brunt of their fury. Mr. Colson applauds the New York Times for reporting about persecution of one of the world's oldest communities of Christians. That persecution, if not sanctioned by the Iraqi government, is at the very least ignored by that same government; a government that was formed after a bitterly fought constitutional convention, during which the term "religious freedom" was bandied about, but never truly embraced.

In Iraq, the spiritual warfare has already become temporal warfare, as Christians die or flee for their lives before their neighbors who have been recruited and deluded by Satan. Likewise, in China, citizens who embrace Christ must live in fear of and hide from their own government. Increasingly, the U.S. government, bowing to small minority groups, is systematically stripping its citizens (and especially Christians) of the First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. How should a Christian soldier respond? In previous posts I have remarked about the need to be in intimate communication with the Commander in Chief, i.e., Jesus Christ, through prayer and the word of God.

Then we need to take the CIC's message to a world enslaved by fuzzy thinking; a world that has embraced moral relativism, political correctness and the satanic lie that there is no absolute truth. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) That is not a statement of wishful thinking. It is the truth. Jesus is the absolute truth. He has left us a written record of His truth, in which for thousands of years men have found unshakable precepts for living in harmony with God and His creation.

As soldiers in the army of the Lord, we are called to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20) We must, therefore, go winsomely, and clad with the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:14-17) into our communities, into our workplaces, into our schools, into our public squares and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Are you girded up, soldier? For'ard, harch!

The fruit if the Spirit is...peace...

I have posted a couple of times on the fruit of the Spirit here and here. Today, I want to address the third component of the fruit of the Spirit, peace.

Peace, according to Dictionary.com, is defined as: "...cessation of or freedom from any strife or dissension. Freedom of the mind from annoyance, distraction, anxiety, an obsession, etc.; tranquillity; serenity." Of course, we also talk about peace as the absence of wars or hostilities among nations. More in line with our present discussion is this definition: "...a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. in personal relations...."

During the Advent season, we are annually reminded:

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
' Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'^c]">" (Luke 2:13-14)

It is likely that the Jews of His time believed this pronouncement to mean that Jesus came to end wars and international hostilities and the oppression of Israel by Rome. But His mission was far bigger than that. Let us go back to Genesis 3. Remember when Adam sinned; the event we commonly refer to as the Fall of man?

What was God's reaction to this original sin? To the serpent He said:

"...I will put enmity
Between you and the woman..."

To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“ Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.

¹⁸ Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.

¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

This passage certainly doesn't sound like the peace talks. God was furious. Adam and Eve had had an idyllic existence in the garden; tending the plants, eating the fruits they produced, unaware of the existence of evil, without rules and regulations, except one:

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

This one rule was all that God had asked them to obey, and they failed to do so. Wouldn't you have been furious in God's place? It was such a little rule to have to obey. The consequence for disobedience couldn't have been more clearly stated: "you shall surely die." God was furious about the disobedience, which was sin, but I believe He was heartbroken as well, because the idyllic existence of those He had created in His very image and the intimate relationship He had had with them were shattered. For God is a holy God and can have nothing to do with sin. And now the man and the woman were tainted with sin and separated from God.

OK, Corporal, what does all of this have to do with peace? Well, after the Fall, there was little "mutual harmony...in personal relations" between God and men. That is, there has been little "peace" in their relations. But the heavenly host, on that first Christmas, brought glad tidings of great joy, singing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

This was not a proclamation that there would be peace among men, but that there would be peace between God and men, and God was demonstrating His good will toward men. How so? The Messiah was come to ransom the captives (not of Rome but of Satan), seek and save the lost (spiritually), to give sight to the blind (to the physically blind, yes, but more importantly to the spiritually blind), to heal the brokenhearted:

Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” (Luke 4:18-19)

That first Christmas, God offered an olive branch to man, made in His own image, when man as a race was mired in sin and death. Jesus was that olive branch, come to make peace. In His own ingenious way, He came as the most vulnerable of creatures, a human baby, in the most humble of circumstances, a stable full of animals, and was lain in a manger in lieu of a bed, because His unwed teenage mother had nothing more for Him. As the Apostle Paul would later write:

"...being in very nature God, [He]
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature^b]"> of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself..." (Philippians 2:6-8)

Now, of course, the baby had a few years of growing and ministry to go through, before He was fully prepared to deliver on the promise of peace. But when the time had fully come, He humbled himself again by voluntarily subjecting Himself to the humiliation of mockery, flogging, trial in a couple of kangaroo courts, and perhaps, the most cruel, painful form of execution ever devised by the depraved mind of man.

Why? Why did He do that? Remember what was blocking the possibility of peace between God and man? That's right, sin. Sin had always been atoned for by the shedding of blood, but the blood of animals was never enough to wash away the sin of a man. Only the blood of a perfect man could settle the debt once, for all. When Christ, on the cross, uttered the words, "It is finished," and yielded up His spirit, He was talking about the mission for which He came: "on earth peace, goodwill toward men."

The Lord Jesus taught us many things during his time walking among us on earth. He told Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) Remember God's promise in Genesis 2:17, "you will surely die"? Now He is offering eternal life, for the small price of believing in His Son and surrendering to His will. I don't know about you, commander, but that gives me a great deal of peace.

He told John the Beloved Apostle, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man opens the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20) I believe you will find it difficult to give an example where two people share a meal in an atmosphere of hostility. Breaking bread together is a universal gesture of good will.

And on Pentecost, "[the believers] were all filled with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:4) Jesus had ascended to the Father, but true to His word, He sent "another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17) This is the same Spirit to whom we refer, when we talk about the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is...peace.... If you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (which you are, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and surrendered your will to Him), you cannot escape "...the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, [which] will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:7) It is the peace that can only come from Jesus' having bridged the chasm between you and God that was created by your sin. The sacrifice that God made by sending His only begotten Son to die in your place gives you access directly to God the Father in prayer and to that other Helper, who lives with you always in love, joy, peace....

May you know that peace of God that surpasses understanding as you contemplate, during this Christmas season, the miracle of Immanuel, God with us; "the Word [Who] became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14), so that "as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name..." (John 1:12)

Peace, soldier...and Merry Christmas!

A cause for pause...

This morning on Chuck Colson's Breakpoint website there is a wonderful posting by T. M. Moore. It is based on Proverbs 28:9 - If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

This passage should give every Christian in America pause. Am I hearing the law? A friend of mine is deeply committed to the concept of grace, having been raised in a very legalistic home. He frequently reminds me that we are not under law, but grace. I believe Moore may have a revelation for my friend, when he says,

Here is a call, not to be saved by God’s Law, but to begin working out our salvation in those good works for which we have been redeemed, good works ordained from of old, as Paul puts it (Eph. 2:8-10).

Christian soldier, can you recite the Ten Commandments... in order. Do you know what Jesus said about the sixth and seventh Commandments in the Sermon on the Mount? God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His Laws do not change. Are you hearing the Law? Meditating on it? Teaching it? Sharing it? Obeying it?

Read Moore's post, titled, "Your Prayers." Do not let your prayers be an abomination, "an abominable stench in the nostrils of God," as Moore puts it.