The kindness of the Spirit | 6

‘But the fruit of the Spirit is … kindness’ Galatians 5.22

Kindness is a beautiful word. We are used to thinking about the love of God, but the word ‘kindness’ adds something extra to the list of God’s attributes. At the heart of it is a sense of goodness, mildness and pleasantness, which reassures us that we want to be with the Spirit and not flee from him.

Sometimes you may wonder whether you would be desperately uncomfortable in God’s presence because he is so holy, but a story in Luke 7 reveals his holiness is not like this. It is the account of the woman who wet his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. We are told that she was indeed a ‘sinful’ woman, but this didn’t make Jesus unapproachable for her; she clearly felt able to approach him in a close and intimate way.

So it is with the Spirit who lives within us. If he produces kindness within us, then he is kind in himself; he is approachable and caring, not fierce and condemning. The Spirit who dwells within you is happy to be there, despite how you view yourself, and he longs for you to respond to his kindness and not fear his disapproval.

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