Reg Killingley asks us whether we are kind persons or whether we practice kindness. The concept of kindness appears throughout the Bible. In the Olivet Prophecy, Christ predicts that love, faith, and kindness will attenuate (even among believers) when He returns. People will feel weary and want to give up, yielding to sin and lawlessness. We are admonished not to morph into a cruel, unfaithful steward. Currently, we live in a cruel world; kindness is rare. Being kind resembles sowing good seed. Not all the seed we sow will sprout, but whatever seed we sow, we will reap. We cannot give up on kindness just because no one else practices it; we are called to peace, aspiring to emulate the traits of our Heavenly Father and our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ, who demonstrates unfailing kindness. We need to be kind to the powerless or insignificant, such as the orphans and widows, as well as animals; we need to be kind to our relatives, friends and neighbors, realizing that familiarity often breeds contempt; we need to be kind to our enemies, whether in political or theological settings; we need to be kind to strangers, providing food and other relief when we have the means to do so. We need to show kindness to our fellow citizenry by refraining to litter or create eyesores with our property. Kindness is a whole-cloth garment; we cannot practice both kindness and rudeness. One of these opposite set of traits needs to be extinguished (preferably rudeness and unkindness) to make us whole spiritually. Grapes and briars cannot grow on the same plant. It is incumbent that we produce exclusively good fruit. We should be kind to all people, friend and foe alike, in our words and deeds, sowing the seeds of kindness every day.

Abusing people * Anthrax * Are you a kind person? * Be kind to yourself * Being kind * Bing Crosby-"Love Thy Neighbor" * Building a protective wall * Bullying * Campaigns against bullying * Can anything good come out of Galilee? * Chesed * Chrestotes * Clerk * Control of tongue * Cyber-bullying * Deuteronomy 22:4-8 * Embarrassed by public display * Faith * Familiarity breeds contempt * I Corinthians 13 * Galatians 6:7 * God is unfailingly kind * Heaping coals of fire on head * Importunate widow * James 1:27; 3:9 * Jeremiah 9:24 * John 8:3 * Joseph and Mary * Kindergarten * Kindness * Lawlessness * Leviticus 19:9 * Littering * Love * Loving-kindness * Luke 12:40; 18:8 * Matthew 1:18; 7:17; 12: 13:3-8; 24:12; 25:40 * Meticulous signature * Mother-love * Persevering * Resign * Romans 12:20 * Unfaithful steward * Violence * Waiter * Woman caught in adultery