Love is kind

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

This is my second post in a mini series based on God's description of love from 1 Corinthians 13. Previously, I thought it was important to mention various ways in which much of what is labelled as 'love' today looks nothing like God's love, but is a deceptive mixture of lust and selfishness (cloaked with apparently warm feelings and gestures). In my previous post, I discussed some reminders and examples from God's word that true love is patient. Today I want to highlight just a few passages of Scripture in which God demonstrates that true love, which has Him as its source, is kind. 

Love is kind

Love is observable. You can observe love because it is an act of the will that determines the actions and dispositions of a person. This is very easily demonstrated by the kindness of true love. Kindness refers to showing benevolence, tenderness, and goodness towards someone.

In Scripture there are numerous references to kindness - at least 43 in the New King James Version of the Bible. In some places, it is used interchangeably with 'mercy,' which it is closely related to in various contexts (e.g. in Eph 4:32, Lk 6:35, and Hosea 11:4). The excellent wife described in Proverbs 31 has the "law of kindness" on her tongue. She is without doubt a woman who has the "imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." Her words are wise and healing, not abrasive or abusive and quarrelsome. In the life of Ruth, kindness was evident and admired with regard to her faithful love towards the woman who had been her mother-in-law, Naomi. Not surprisingly also, in Genesis 24, an act of kindness was one of the standards Abraham's servant prayerfully required in choosing a wife for Isaac. And King David's kindness towards Mephibosheth, the crippled son of his slain friend Jonathan, was extravagant.

Sincere kindness is an endearing virtue that brings glory to God, but it is also a requirement among those who belong to God. It is listed among the fruit of the Spirit that a faithful disciple of Christ will produce because of their new nature. 

Of course, as I cautioned in my previous post, many outwardly kind gestures may be driven by motives that have nothing to do with love, or which are downright malicious in intent. You may wonder then, how can we ever know if someone really loves or not? There is much to be said for growing in discernment as we walk with God. Also, we will know the content of a person's heart by the fruit they produce. And I have found there is yet another way to get a reliable indication of whether love is genuine: the test of consistency and persistence under unpleasant circumstances.

It is easy to counterfeit love. But true love persists even at the cost of pain to the one who loves, and this willingness to suffer is not easily counterfeited. Jesus gave commands to His disciples that described the type of kindness that ought to be evident in their lives and this is how He makes a distinction between His own people and unbelievers:

If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.
Luke 6:32-35, ESV (emphasis mine)

The innate selfishness of man will not easily allow him to suffer loss or pain for someone else, especially if loss of comfort, reputation, or possessions is involved without personal gain. Even if a person may feign love, it is hardly likely that they will be able to keep up the act under persistently self-sacrificing conditions, for an indefinite length of time. Love that has God at its source remains kind when things get tough. The individual who can only demonstrate acts and words of kindness when a relationship is in an easy and unchallenged period is not walking in true love. I might add, of what benefit is that? Even sinners easily show kindness to others who treat them with kindness. True love is kind.


[If you missed the first in this series, you may find it here]