How to Measure Your Kindness

In full disclosure, this is my 3rd (maybe 4th) attempt at writing this blog.

I've been doing a short series on the Fruit of the Spirit. And until this particular piece of fruit, I've been using little personal stories to help illustrate. But ironically, kindness has posed a problem:

There were no personal stories I could tell that didn't make me sound super awesome.

Then I realized this probably isn't just my problem. In fact, I know it isn’t. I cannot think of a single solitary person who believes they are fundamentally unkind. We all think we are kind people, right?

In fact, if pushed, we'd tell you we’re really kind. Probably too kind. If you really, really pushed us, we'd tell you how we are so unbelievably kind that people walk right over us. Our hearts are so tender and pure that we give and we give, and we give often with nothing in return.

So there's the conundrum. Why would people who are already oozing kindness need the Holy Spirit to give them kindness?

Well, in the interest of time, I’m not going to try and convince you or myself that we’re not awesome. I'm just going to change the measuring stick to Jesus. I'm going to talk about the kindness He talked about and modeled for us, suggest that's the kindness He wants to produce in our lives, and then humbly ask us to assess if we measure up to Him.

I think the ultimate example of God’s heart of kindness towards us is shown in what is commonly referred to as The Prodigal Son Story told in Luke Chapter 15.

In this story, so kind is the father’s heart that when the son asks for his inheritance (essentially telling the father he is dead to him), the father says no words. Nothing. Not a sound. He just hands him the money. That’s it. No arguing. No convincing. No chasing. He lovingly releases the son to feel the repercussions of his choices.

And after the son has squandered all of his money, is hungry, soiled, and literally wallowing in a den of pigs, it is the memory of the father’s kindness that jolts him back to his senses as he thinks:

“How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father…”

And so kind was the father that, though he did not chase the boy when he left, he never stopped preparing for his return home. Jesus says the boy was headed back and while he was “…still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”

That’s a SUPERNATURAL kindness.

It goes far beyond being ‘nice’ to someone. It even goes far beyond being nice to someone who doesn’t deserve it. I propose we all could probably drum that up with our willpower without any supernatural help. But it’s deeper. I think this scripture brings it all home:

“…His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” ~ Romans 2:4

This scripture speaks of a kindness that prompts someone to fundamentally reconsider their life choices. It’s a kindness so deep, so pervasive, so breathtaking it compels a person to alter their life contract with God.

That’s why I rewrote this blog 3 (okay, maybe 5) times. Because I’m not there yet. But I want to be. I want to yield to the Spirit in a way that this type of kindness naturally produces in my life. Don’t you? Look around. People are literally dying for it.

I’m encouraged (and you be encouraged, too) that we don’t have to generate it on my own. I leave you with this blessed promise of Jesus (emphasis added by me):

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” ~ John 15:4-5

Want more from Sherri Lynn? Dive into her latest, "Holy Ghost Mama: 21 Old School Lessons That Saved My Life" that was released Spring 2025 or tune int to The Brant and Sherri Oddcast for inspiring conversations. 

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