Kindness in Action
A compilation
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Kindness is the characteristic that led God to provide salvation for us (Titus 3:4–5; Romans 2:4; 11:22). Kindness leads God to give us green pastures, quiet waters, and the restoration of our souls when we’re weary (Psalm 23:2–3). It is God’s tender care that makes Him want to gather us under His wings, to protect us and keep us close to Him (Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 61:4; Matthew 23:37).
God expressed kindness when He provided for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath during a drought—and He showed more kindness later when He raised the widow’s only son from the dead (1 Kings 17:8–24). When Sarah exiled Hagar and Ishmael, God gave the outcasts kindness in the form of water and hope (Genesis 21:9–21).
On multiple occasions, kindness induced Jesus to stop what He was doing and help others in need (Mark 6:34; Mark 7:29; Mark 10:46–52). And kindness leads the Good Shepherd to rescue us when we stray (Luke 15:3–7). In kindness He “gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young” (Isaiah 40:11).
When we exhibit the kindness of God, we are tender, benevolent, and useful to others. Every action, every word will have the flavor of grace in it.—Got Questions.org1
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Within one week I met kindness at least four times.
A colleague commented that Plato urged, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
I read that playwright Douglas Jerrold (1803–1857) described a man so kind that “he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain.”
Someone remembered a sermon in which I had said, “Perhaps the most important thing to look for in a potential spouse is kindness.”
And in The New World, a film about the Native American princess Pocahontas, she asks John Rolfe, “Are you kind?”
Human kindness is a dim reflection of God’s kindness. In a lengthy discourse on our sin and God’s wrath, Paul wrote, “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness … not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
We have lost hard battles with sin. But Christ’s umbrella is cross-shaped, protecting us from a deluge of God’s just wrath. God, our Father, is kind beyond measure. Why? “In order that … he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”
Jesus, thank you for holding the umbrella of your grace over us. Thank you for your everlasting kindness and faithfulness. In your name we hope. Amen.—Dale Vander Veen2
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“Solomon said, ‘You were extravagantly generous in love with David my father, and he lived faithfully in your presence, his relationships were just and his heart right. And you have persisted in this great and generous love’” (1 Kings 3:6).
God is a specialist in kindness, or in what Solomon here calls “great and generous love.” Kindness is one of the most beautiful virtues. Kindness can be defined as the act of showing someone gentle consideration and generous love when they are too poor or lost to do anything for themselves. It can be understood as an attitude of heart that accepts and honors others even when they are in a mess, sometimes of their own making.
Seen in that light, God truly is kind. He continually turns His face towards us and shows us love that we haven’t deserved and do not deserve. He constantly honors us even when we have wandered far from Him and, like the prodigal son, come home with nothing but our shame.
God is the kindest Father in the universe. He continued to show kindness to King David, Solomon’s father, even though he made mistakes. He continues to show kindness to us, too. Pray for more of this kindness today. It is the most life-changing quality in the universe.
“Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).—God’s Word for Every Need
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None of her friends or family understands why she has done it, and most of them would like to shake her out of her foolishness. Their objections make sense. After all, May is in her mid-forties and has been living alone ever since her daughter moved out. May is also in debt. And yet, here she is, raising her ex-husband’s child by another woman.
May married early and was divorced by her early twenties, but even before that, she had been raising her first child alone, as her ex-husband had a drug addiction and spent as much time in prison as out.
Then twenty-some years later, he reappeared out of the blue and asked for a favor. He had fathered a new baby with another woman, and he wanted May to arrange for the baby to be taken into an orphanage before he went to jail again. Little Joline had been abandoned by her mother, and it seemed she was destined for a childhood spent in an institution.
Instead of that, May arranged to keep the baby and has been raising her for the past five years. It hasn’t been easy. May is working hard to make ends meet, and Joline is a handful. But May is undeterred.
“People have been telling me what a big burden Joline is, and how she isn’t worth the sacrifices I make to look after her. But no one ever asks me how I feel or really listens to why I’m doing this.
“After my last failed relationship, I felt I had lost everything to live for and that I’d never have a normal family. But when I first saw Joline’s smile and felt her little hand clasp one of my fingers, I knew then that there was someone who loved me and needed me. Joline is not a burden, she’s my source of love and joy.”
Just then, Joline came over and placed her arms around May’s neck and kissed her cheeks. “I love you, Mommy. You’re the best in the world!” May’s face lit up as the proud mother she is.
It dawned on me then. May was right, even though others had misjudged her. Rather than letting life’s misfortunes and struggles drag her into a spiral of self-pity, she had chosen to focus on kindness and giving what she still had. And in doing so, she also found the happiness that had been eluding her.—Renee Chang3
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Ephesians 6:18, “Always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people!”
Intercessory prayer is a vital and powerful spiritual practice. It is an essential part of the Christian life, modeled throughout Scripture as an act of love and compassion towards others, and obedience to God.
This selfless act of praying for other believers reflects the compassionate heart of Christ, who constantly intercedes for His redeemed people. This sacred duty of intercessory prayer is a tangible way for believers to demonstrate Christlike love, and to bear one another’s burdens.
Intercession is perhaps the greatest way we can help other Christians. Let us never be slack in it.
Earnest intercession will be sure to bring love with it. I do not believe you can hate a man for whom you habitually pray. If you dislike any fellow Christian, pray for him doubly, not only for his sake, but for your own, that you may be cured of all unkind feelings.
Love is the cement on which the living stones of the church should be laid, if they are to be united together. I ascribe lack of brotherly love to the decline of intercessory prayer. Pray for one another earnestly, habitually and fervently—and you will knit your hearts together in love.
Dear brethren, when you pray for one another, not only will your sympathy and love grow, but you will have kinder judgments concerning one another. Prayer is a wondrous blender of hearts, and a mighty creator of love.
I urge you, my brethren, if there is any member of this church who has treated you unkindly—then revenge yourself upon him by praying for him more constantly and more earnestly.
Intercessory prayer is one of the holiest, and most heavenly exercises in which a devout man can possibly be occupied.
Oh, let us be done with murmurings and complainings, criticisms and fault-finding, and take the whole of it up to the mercy-seat. If half the breath that is vainly spent in censorious complaints were turned into intercession, there would be much more holiness in the church!
For myself personally, I say that no man can do me a truer kindness than to pray for me.—Charles Spurgeon4
Published on Anchor September 2025. Read by Jon Marc. Music by John Listen.
1 “The Fruit of the Holy Spirit – What is kindness?” GotQuestions.org, https://www.gotquestions.org/fruit-Holy-Spirit-kindness.html
2 Dale Vander Veen, “Thinking About God's Kindness,” TodayDevotional.com, March 19, 2012, https://todaydevotional.com/devotions/thinking-about-gods-kindness-2012-03-19
3 Renee Chang, “A Mother’s Choice,” Activated, July 2013, https://www.activated.org/en/relationships/love-for-others/growing-in-love/a-mothers-choice/
4 Charles Spurgeon, GraceGems.org, https://www.gracegems.org/2024/spurgeon_no_man_can_do_me_a_true.htm
