“Be Ye Kind”

“Be ye kind one to another…” —Ephesians 4:32

Are you a Christian that exhibits kindness? How do you know if you are kind? What is kindness? The beauty about the Bible is it often defines it’s own terms.

By comparing 2 Chronicles 10:7 with 1 Kings 12:7, we can see what the word “kind” means. King Rehoboam is counseled by the elders of Israel, “If thou be KIND to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever” (2 Chron. 10:7). In the parallel passage in 1 Kings 12:7 we read, “If thou wilt BE A SERVANT unto this people this day, and wilt SERVE them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.”

Although there is a variation in the wording, this is not a contradiction. God is simply defining what it means to be kind. It means to SERVE others. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary agrees giving this definition of the word “kind”— “Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them…”

Now, go back and answer the question at the beginning of this devotion? How “kind” are you? Are you disposed to do good to others? Who have you made happy recently by granting their request? When was the last time you supplied someone’s needs or helped them out? Let’s put into practice Paul’s exhortation— “BE YE KIND one to another!”