When my sisters and I would fight as kids, our parents had us recite Ephesians 4:32 — in the Authorized Version, of course: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” To this day, every time I read this verse, I associate it with these childhood moments. I am grateful to my parents for impressing this wonderful verse upon me.
More recently I noticed something that gives the word “kind” specific content. This word is also used in Matthew 11:30 when the Lord says, “My yoke is easy.” Kindness asks, “How can I make this situation as easy for the other person as possible? How can I avoid embarrassing this person, pressuring this person, cornering this person? How can I make a positive response as easy as it can be, even if I have to absorb the difficulty into myself?”
That is how kindness thinks, because that is how God thinks.
“Nothing in life is comparable to forgiveness. Hate, bitterness and vengeance leave a seared heart and mind, even on the one who takes vengeance as well as on the object of hate. Forgiveness, sympathy and love are balm for heart and mind. Where these virtues exist, the burden, tenseness and worry of life are easily removed. Where forgiveness is, God is.”
Harold J. Ockenga, Faithful in Christ Jesus (New York, 1948), page 194.
