Kindness is “In Kind”
“Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another…” (Ephesians 4:32) One of the great losses in the world is simple human kindness. It seems that people are so selfish and materialistic today that taking time to be kind is passé. So many people are so focused on getting what they feel is due them that they do not take the time to be kind. It is much easier to react in whatever way they feel in the moment.
What does the Bible teach about kindness? Kindness does not approve of anyone doing whatever they want without any obligation or submission. Jesus expects people to be in His yoke and carry His burden (Matthew 11:30). Jesus also used the preservation of wine in wineskins to teach that kindness gets better with age (Luke 5:39). The older we get the more we appreciate kindness.
Kindness will also be put to the test by others tempting you not to follow the kind way, but rather to follow the path everyone else is taking (I Corinthians 15:33). Furthermore, there not one person who has always practiced kindness (Romans 3:12).
Now, consider this thought. Genesis 1 declares that God created every grass, tree, and herb to reproduce “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:11-12). He also created every creature to reproduce “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:21). Though the word “kind” in this passage is not a companion word to the Greek word “kind”, there is an interesting connection between the two.
The creation yielded plants and animals grouped into kinds. That is, there was a dog kind, a cat kind, and an ivy kind. Not every dog that is now in existence was in the garden. But, every genetic possibility for all the various dog breeds was implanted into the first dog kind. The same goes with cat kind and ivy kind.
But, what is a kind? It is a classification that groups together animals that have the ability to mate and produce offspring. All the various breeds of dogs can mate and produce offspring that will also carry the same classification or kind.
When Paul told the Ephesians to “be kind to one another” (Ephesians 4:32), he was telling them to treat others in kind. Kindness is the way that the human kind should interact with each other because we are all of the same kind. It is treating others with the same kind of treatment that you would want them to treat you.
There is an even greater connection that dictates our kindness to each other. Paul mentioned that the “kindness of God…toward man appeared.” The human kind should reproduce kindness because we are all made in the image of God’s kind—His nature. Kindness is “in kind” with God’s kindness.
— Mike Johnson
