Kindness tends to be rare in the world today. All around us we see people hurting and longing for a kind word or deed from someone else. The Bible is the ultimate picture of kindness. One example of kindness in the Bible is the story of the Good Samaritan.
Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who was attacked by bandits and left for dead. A priest walked by and just passed to the other side. A Temple Assistant saw him lying there but still passed to the other side. These were two religious men who saw someone in need, and chose themselves over the kindness they could bestow on someone else. Finally, it was a Samaritan who noticed the Jewish man in turmoil and chose kindness over himself. He immediately felt compassion for the man when he saw him and began to bandage his wounds. His kindness did not stop there. He took the man to an inn to care for him and paid the innkeeper to continue caring for him after he left. Jesus then asks which of these three men was a true neighbor? Biblical kindness goes beyond a kind word or gesture; it is a lifestyle. Being kind was not a chore or even a choice for this Samaritan man. It was a way of life.
This is how God wants us to show kindness to others. It should be a way of life for us. We should be so caring with others that when they look at us, they see the love and kindness of Christ. If we follow the kindness God has shown us and the real-life examples in the Bible, we will learn how to make kindness the theme of our lives.