Driving around lately, I’ve noticed signs in people’s yards that read “Be Kind.”  That sounds like a nice enough thing to suggest.  After all, when we were children, most of us were taught to be kind by our parents and by our teachers at school.

Nowadays, though, it seems the goal of teaching kindness is to instill an attitude of “Expect Kindness” into young people rather than “Share Kindness.”  Some are taught to react with violence when someone else disagrees with them or is unkind.  The answer to the question, “Can we all just get along?” is an emphatic, “NO!”.

Biblical kindness does not require that other people treat us well.  We cannot control the actions of others.  We can only control our own actions and we are commanded by Scripture to love our enemies and to do good to those who wish us harm.  That doesn’t seem fair, does it?  Do you think Jesus thought it was fair that He had to die on the cross?  Do you think it was fair that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for your sins?

Jesus did not let the actions of others determine how He would treat people, even when they despised Him, spit on Him, cursed at Him, beat Him and eventually nailed Him to the cross.  Rather, Jesus asked the Father to forgive the ones who crucified Him because they didn’t know what they were doing.  That’s seriously biblical kindness.  That’s the type of kindness you can only get from allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate your life and control the reins to your tongue.  The type of kindness found as part of the Fruit of the Spirit is not the kindness we show others on our own.  Rather, it is the kindness Jesus commanded when He said, “Love your enemies.”

Putting up a sing to encourage others to “Be Kind” without expecting to show kindness under all circumstances is tantamount to posting the Ten Commandments in your yard and only expecting to keep a couple of them yourself.