For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another; but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy.
(Titus 3:3-5)He who pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.
(Proverbs 21:21)
It’s a well-known truth: we become like those we live with.
This is true in a special way regarding the Holy Spirit living in us.
When he lives within us, we become ever more like him.
The next two fruits of the Spirit in St. Paul’s list are an expression of this.
God is good and kind, and we are to become good and kind like him.
That God is good is obvious; we all know it.
God is goodness itself, the source of everything good.
Goodness is a wide category that touches on everything God is and does.
As Jesus put it: “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19).
More surprising to us is the revelation that God is not only good, but kind.
Goodness is, well, very good.
But it can be a little intimidating, especially for us fallen mortals who are often not good.
Pure goodness is like the sun whose brightness both illuminates and destroys.
Just as the sun wraps itself in the stark beauty of a tall snow-capped mountain against a dark blue sky, impressive and majestic, so goodness is difficult to attain and a hard place to live.
Kindness is better suited to our condition.
Kindness appeals to us, and speaks more of a snug pub with a hearty fire crackling and good cheer in the air.
Goodness is noble and implacable; kindness is benevolent, affectionate, thoughtful, and helpful.
Goodness can seem stern in its perfection; kindness is the twinkle in the eye of goodness.
There is a long-standing ideal of the Christian knight, the man who is stern toward his enemies, unsparing toward himself, faithful in keeping his pledges, courteous to women, and kind to children and the needy.
We can wrongly associate kindness with weakness or femininity.
But God himself, the Lord of Armies, the all-powerful, reveals himself as kind.
What keeps us from gaining this fruit of the Spirit?
Pride, certainly.
The proud man doesn’t trouble himself with the needs of others.
He is always “on his dignity” and he expects others, especially those who are his social or workplace inferiors, to show him proper respect.
To show kindness would be to lose a sense of superiority.
A competitive spirit can also kill kindness.
The man who feels that another’s success is his own diminishment will find it hard to be kind.
Irritability can smother kindness.
The man who allows his ill-temper to get the better of him will regularly be unkind to those around him.
Insecurity will quench kindness.
The person who feels himself vulnerable will go on the attack, disguising his unkindness in belittling “humorous” remarks.
Kindness is the quality of dealing gently with those who need help.
The true test of kindness comes at home, where we are not forced to behave well.
Many people act kindly in public, but they become beings of unkindness toward their wives and children.
Let us set our hearts on growing in this fruit.
Today, reflect on this passage in prayer: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:30-32).
