We can compare being kind, with being nice. Though certainly there are similarities between the two, there are also differences. Perhaps a little over simplistically, being nice is said to be about being polite and treating others well, whereas being kind is said to be when you care about people and show it. In fact kindness is part of the cluster of qualities (longsuffering, kindness, goodness - Galatians 5:22) that have more to do with the inner life, than with the external. We can be nice without being kind. I can for example, be a people pleaser out of fear or self interest, trying to manipulate others. And we can also be kind without being thought of as nice.
For me, the prime example of the latter case can be found in the story of the rich your ruler (Matthew 19:16-22). Asking what he needed to do to earn eternal life, and feeling he had kept all the commandments, Jesus told him “If you want to be perfect go and sell all that you have and give to the poor.” We read the young man went away sad because he had great riches. To some Jesus was being very harsh, but the “because” in what Jesus said gives the clue to why He said what He did. It seems that this young man’s riches were what he trusted in. In other words his riches were an idol, and Jesus was in fact being kind, because trust in anything other than Him keeps us from life both in the here and now, and in eternity. It seems worth noting, that we are not told the ultimate decision of this young man, only his initial response!
Father, sometimes some of the things that You require of us seem very hard (Luke 9:23). But there is no-one kinder than You, and I have come to believe that You always have our best interest at heart. I want to thank You for this and also that You always leave us room (as with the parable of the two sons Matthew 21:28-31), to wrestle with the things You require of us. Truly You are a good and kind Father, and I want to be like You. In Jesus Name Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment