“Love is at the root of everything. All learning, all relationships. Love, or the lack of it.” – Mr. Fred Rogers
Luke 10:25 ESV – “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 10:26-27 ESV – “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:28 ESV – And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”
Luke 10:29 ESV says, …desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Luke 10:30-37 ESV –Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The Test of Kindness is Stress
Luke 10:31-32 ESV – Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
Why didn’t they stop?
Stress of Fear
Stress of an Unpleasant Experience
Stress of Unneeded Trouble
The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably bc/ they are generally the same person. – G.K. Chesterton
Ephesians 4:31 – 32 ESV Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another….
The Key to Kindness is Awareness
Romans 11:22 ESV – Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness.
1 John 4:19 ESV – We love because he first loved us.
Kindness Grows Out of Awareness— How Aware are You?
Psalm 106:44 ESV – God saw their misery and heard their cry.
The impersonal hand of government can never replace the helping hand of a neighbor. – Senator Hubert Humphrey
1 Peter 1:9 – But whoever does not have them [these qualities of Christ] is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
“I sought my God and my God I couldn’t find;
I sought my soul and my soul eluded me;
I sought to serve my brother in his need, and I found all three;
My God, my soul, and thee.”
– William Blake
The Source of Kindness is Humility
Luke 6:31 NIV – Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Matthew 19:14-15 NIV – Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
James 4:6 ESV – God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.
James 4:10 ESV – Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
Luke 6:31 NIV – Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Matthew 23:12 ESV – Jesus said, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
The Proof of Kindness is Action
Luke 10:33-37 ESV – But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’
36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.”
And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
James 2:15-17 ESV – If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what goodis that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Show Kindness This Week
- Be Kind with Your Words
Colossians 4:6 ESV – Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,
Ephesians 4:29 ESV – Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
1 Peter 2:16-17 ESV – Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone… Fear God. Honor the emperor.
- Be Kind to the Elderly
- Be Kind in Your Work place
James 1:19 ESV – let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
1 Peter 3:9 NIV – Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called…
- Be Kind to Your Spouse
What helps a marriage thrive?
Titus 3:4-7 NIV – But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Romans 12:1 NIV – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
