Kindness

The word for today is…kindness.  It seems like everywhere I looked today, this word kept popping up.  First was the daily devotional from Richard Rohr, where he reminds us of the Dalai Lama’s words… “My religion is kindness.”  That sounds all mystical and Dalai Lamaish, until we realize that it’s not just him.  Rohr goes on – “We could dismiss that as lightweight theology, until we remember that Jesus said, “This is my commandment: you must love one another” (John 13:34). Kindness is supposed to be the religion of Christians too!”

Is that really true?  I got to looking.  Romans 2:4 says that it is the “kindness” of God that leads us to repentance.  Galatians 6:22 says that the fruit of the Spirit is – among other things – kindness.  Colossians 3:12 tells us to put on a heart of kindness.  There are other references, but these seems to be enough to point to a pattern.  Kindness is a quality of God that God desires to see in us.  The Greek word for kindness is chrestotes – which means “moral goodness, integrity, benignity (favorable attitude – doing kind and gracious acts).”

“My religion is kindness,” says the Dalai Lama.  Turns out - mine is too.  I just sometimes forget it.  Instead, I fight to prove I’m right and my opponent is wrong.  What if I just showed kindness (which leads to repentance)?