“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
I always thought that being kind and being nice were the same thing. Over the years I have come to realize that there is a difference. Being nice can be defined as being pleasant and polite, using words to make others feel good. People who are nice are usually agreeable and do not want to cause any problems. Where being kind can be defined as a quality of being friendly, willing to be honest with others in love.
Being nice can be thought of as being self motivated in that a person who is being nice sometimes expects something in return for the act of being nice, typically praise. Expressing kindness can be thought of as being selfless in that the person who is being kind expects nothing in return for the act of being kind.
For example, a nice person will tell you that the outfit you have on is flattering even if it isn’t because they don’t want to hurt your feelings or make you upset. Whereas a kind person will tell you the truth about the outfit, in a loving way, so that you do not go out in public in an outfit that is not flattering on you.
As children of God, we are often called upon to be kind to others, in the most loving way we know how, but unfortunately, we are not always kind, instead there are times when we are nice. We are nice sometimes because we don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings, however, we are not truly helping them to address an issue or grow in a certain area when we are not being truthful with them.
In demonstrating growth in our spiritual life and development of this area of the Fruit of the Spirit, we begin to be able to distinguish the difference between niceness and kindness so that we are able to truly help others, not just make them feel good. Being nice is easier than being kind, you don’t have address anything or figure out how to tell the person something in love that may hurt their feelings.
We are also called to be kind to our enemies. As humans we can hold grudges and the thought of being nice, let alone kind to our enemies, can be hard for us. God has instructed us to do that very thing though, we are told to love our enemies and be kind to everyone, not just nice. After all, God has been kind to us, helping us to correct our sin and He did it through love by sending His Son as a way for us to be able to be forgiven and to live in eternity with Him.
As we move through our day, I pray that we choose to be kind to others even when we don’t feel like being kind. We are children of the Most High God and we are sometimes the only example of Jesus that another person may experience. Knowing that helps us to remember if we want to bring others to Jesus, then we have to demonstrate what being a follower of Christ looks like in all that we do. Have a wonderful day and be kind to everyone.