Quotes from Kids (and others) on “Love is Kind”

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. And walk in love ..." (Ephesians 4:32).

Last Sunday's message was on "love is kind" from 1 Corinthians 13:4 and I shared how my son's class at Providence Christian School gave me some help talking about what love in kindness looks like. Here's from the 6th grade class to spur us adults on to loving kindness:

Several kids wrote the same one: “inviting / including others in” activities

Skye: “encourage others and say kind words”

Avila: “Spend time with friends and say nice things”

Arianna: “Say kind words to each other like ‘hi, thank you, and please’”

Trace: “say something funny like a joke to cheer them up if they are sad”

Ryleigh: “When we argue, we don’t need to start a fight, we can talk it out”

Nathan: “I would say, if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep going.”

Brycen: “Help people if they need it before you help yourself”

Bradley: “By being nice to them and helping them with work”

Samantha: “be kind to others by including them in things, respecting them and befriending them”

Alli: “little things make a big difference. So if you have a chance, share a smile”

Kadence: “I can be helpful and slow to anger and pray for those who are sad. I can also watch my words.”

Melanie: “Do not look to your own interests, but to the interest of others”

Riley: “I can tell them about God.”

Austin: “Ask questions when friends look sad. Cheer up people by complimenting”

Proverbs 12:25 says “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up” (NIV).

A kind word could inclulde “a card sent to one who is sick, a concerned phone call, an invitation to dinner, a readiness to help relieve a burden, a caring voice, a gentle touch, a thoughtful gesture, a simple expression of interest in another’s concerns, a visit …”^[i]  

A biblical counselor says "We are kind toward others because we want to be like Jesus, not because our spouse necessarily deserves our kindness. We are a representative of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Therefore, our desire is to treat others with kindness and mercy because we are [the King’s] ambassadors … Extending kindness and mercy doesn’t depend upon whether the other person has been good or bad, wrong or right. Kindness is a gift of love, not a reward for good behavior.^[ii]

Who do you struggle to be kind to? How can you show kindness today?

Love is kind. Be kind, and love one another as God in Christ has to you

^[i] Alexander Strauch, Leading with Love (Littleton, CO: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 2006), 44–46.

^[ii] Leslie Vernick, “The Gift of Kindness,” in Taking the High Road During Marital Difficulties, The Journal of Biblical Counseling, Number 3, Spring 2004/22 (2004): 39.