Kindness

by Wayne Blank

In English, kindness has come to mean being warm-hearted and considerate. The origin of the word is from the very same Saxon word kind (Saxony is in northern Germany; in ancient times, some of the Saxons who migrated westward, the so-called Anglo-Saxons, settled in, and became a prominent people of, Britain) which means family, or child, as in kin, or kindred (English and German, as you well know if you are able to speak both, share many words from their common Saxon origin; in German, kind means child - as in the German word kindergarten, which literally means a children's garden). Kindness literally means being gentle and caring, as with a child, or with family. In the Hebrew Scriptures, the word most-often translated as kindness is (pronounced) kheh-sed; it means merciful or gracious. In the New Testament, the Greek word (pronounced) kray-sto-tace, which means gentleness, is usually translated as kindness.

God's Kindness To His Children

Holy Bible Like all parents, God looks forward to the adult that is being produced, a process that often involves forgiving the "sins of youth":

"Remember, O Lord, Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to Thy mercy remember Thou me for Thy goodness' sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will He teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way." (Psalm 25:6-9 KJV)

Forgiveness also involves discipline when things get out of hand:

"In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer" (Isaiah 54:8 KJV)

It is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God that never sinned, that God is kind, graceful, to His other potential children who do sin:

"But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved; And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7 KJV)

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