TIME OF REFLECTION - LOVE IS KIND

“Love is kind” (I Corinthians 13: 4, NIV)

Kenny Rogers sang a love song titled, "You Decorated My Life." His lyrics celebrated the way our lives are enhanced when we are loved. But when Paul said that real love is kind, he was describing a love that is more than ornamental. According to Greek scholar A. T. Robertson, the Greek word translated "kind" can also mean "useful or gracious." Young's Analytical Concordance defines the word, "to be useful, beneficial." In other words, love acts in a way that is kind, gracious, useful, and beneficial.

If we keep in mind that the purpose of real love is to seek the welfare of the one loved, then we see why real love must not only be patient but gracious. Kindness, not harshness, is more apt to encourage good in another person. Just as Proverbs says that "a soft answer turns away wrath" (15:1), so love that is practical and useful is skillful in bringing out the best rather than the worst in the one loved.

Being gentle and "full of grace" is a Christlike quality (John 1:14). Look at the way Jesus described Himself to those in need of His help:

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:28,29).

Here is a description of the strongest and most loving Person the world has ever known--strong enough to create the universe and wise enough to stand against the hypocrisy and self-centeredness of the most powerful people of His day. Yet He did so while being full of both truth and grace.

Jesus reminds us that while love calls for truth, truth expressed without kindness is not loving. He reminds us that while love calls for patience, patience without kindness is not loving either.

Two Thoughts:

“People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." - Mao Zedong