We’ve all been at the crossroad of good versus evil when we have had to choose between doing what’s right and what’s wrong: praying for someone rather than cursing at them; choosing to go home to your spouse instead of that happy hour where you know your ex will be; stepping away from the computer when the urge hits you to look at pornography; refusing to go out with that person that knows you are an alcoholic but encourages you to have “just one drink”. Making the right choice is self-control.
Though we are human, we can aspire to treat others with the goodness of God. It really is simpler than we make it out to be. We give to others with tenderness, with compassion and without expectation. We give with joy, with grace, without complaint. We give because we are here on earth to show others the goodness of God through our actions.
Kindness. It is the “quality, or state, of being gentle and considerate”, but we live in a world where “being gentle and considerate” seems to be out of the ordinary. We don’t want to be kind enough to let others move in front of us in traffic, we rudely push around others in the grocery store because they’re moving too slow, and we rip each other to shreds on social media. Being kind seems to be the one Fruit of the Spirit that all of us need, but not many of us want to employ.
