What does "kindness" look like?

My Step with God
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Hi friends,

Today, I was meditating on Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The emphasis on kindness stuck out to me. Sometimes, it seems that cruelty or indifference to the suffering of others is the status quo.

I wanted to be practical. Here are some ways I can practice kindness:

  1. Generously tip when I receive service at a local business.

  2. Send text messages to friends, asking how I can pray for them.

  3. Patiently listen when someone shares a concern without shifting the conversation back to myself.

  4. Write an encouraging note.

  5. Invite them over for dinner (or coffee).

What about you? What does it look like for you to practice kindness?

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For me, I think this is where I am strongest.

I think both in listening and in being genuinely interested and curious, asking follow up questions to better understand or to learn more.

Another way is in generosity to others - with time, with homemade food, and with covering people at restaurants or coffee shops. I have experienced so much generosity from mentors and friends in my life and it’s made such an impact on me. So I want to show that same love and kindness God has shown me through so many to others around me.

Lastly, kindness for me often looks like small acts of service. Just opening doors for others, offering to help carry things or to help with whatever tasks they may be doing, and just actively looking for needs that might be unspoken to give a hand where I can.

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