Learning to Be Kind

When we think of being kind, we may tend to think of it as an add-on virtue, something that is good but not necessary. We all know people who seem successful at what they do that do not show a great deal of kindness. But being kind is not an add-on virtue, one that is optional. It is another fruit of the Spirit that is fundamental to our lives as Christians.

         Acts of kindness flow from the internal belief, the dogma, of thinking of others more highly than you think of yourself. If you really do not think of others more highly than you think of yourself, you will, not only, not be kind but you have begun to travel down the road of self-indulgence that eventually leads to self-deception in deceitful lusts. Keep in mind, I am not talking about just treating others as if they were more important than you. I am talking about what you think inside your head, what thoughts are generated in your heart of hearts about others? Until you get your thinking straight, your actions will not consistently follow.

         Being kind flows from the idea that you are trying to improve the lives of others. In kindness, your thoughts, words and actions are all conspiring to this end. A failure to think this way always puts yourself at the top of the who’s most important list. But when you put others at the top of that list, it dramatically changes the way that you behave, think, speak and act. You get out of serving only self and begin to serve others in the right way.