~ adapted from Lecture V of Charity and Its Fruits
“Charity disposes us to do good,” Part 1
by Jonathan Edwards
Love is patient and kind…
1 Corinthians 13:4
1. First, there’s the act.
How do you do show kindness to others?
By caring for them inside and outside.
Souls
Do good to their souls—it’s the most excellent good you can do.
- Teach the ignorant about the great things of God
- Counsel the troubled through doubtful times
- Warn the lazy to care for the welfare of their soul
- Awaken the wrong-doers to their danger and misery
- Encourage the faithful in their spiritual joy and strength
In all these, set a good example. It is the most effective way to promote good of the soul.
Bodies
Do good in ways they can see and feel.
- Give…what they need and what you posses
- Do. Take action to help them and promote their welfare
- Suffer. Come alongside beside to help carry their burden
Feed the hungry. Quench the thirsty. Bathe the dirty. Aid the hurting. Clothe the needy. Empty the trash.
By doing good externally, you do great good internally.
2. Second, there’s the object.
To whom should you be kind? Who is your neighbor?
- Do good to both the good and to the bad, like God does
- Do good to both friends and enemies
- Do good to both the thankful and the unthankful
3. Third, there’s the attitude.
With what spirit do you show kindness?
Freely!
It is no kindness unless it is done freely.
- Do good with no reward in mind
- Do good with genuine goodwill for the person, not grudgingly
- Do good generously, not stingily
* * *
How can you be kind today?
COMING NEXT:
Lecture V, Part 2: Motivated to be kind
Previous chapters
Laurie’s notes, Lecture V, Part 1
3 comments:
I really like this post. It's wonderful when Christians put kindness into practice. We are so blessed, and we should give generously to others.
bravo! kindness is so underrated today, which means there's an even greater need for it, those liberty mutual commercials have the idea down pat although they use the wrong word, "when people do the right thing they call it being responsible" NO! those people are not responsible for any of the actions they took (e.g., I'm not responsible to pick up a child's toy, let someone merge in front of me, etc. but those are all kind things to do), what they did was show kindness, i'm curious what was in the minds of those ad execs and why they chose to use responsibility instead of the more accurate kindness, anyway... great post!
I've always loved those commercials, but never put any thought into their use of "responsibility" as the key word. Good point that it's not responsibility that's the trait being shown, but kindness.
I recently listened to a sermon on the difference between "goodness" and "kindness." Don't know that I agree with what I heard, but it's definitely making me think that there is a difference.
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