Nougat 30

Hi

Are you a kind person? Why do you think you are/not? How does your response and explanation match up to today’s Holy Nougat

““Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.” Luke 6:35-36 NLT

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 NL

In Greek, the word we use for ‘kindness’ speaks to moral goodness, integrity, benignity and/or kindness. The Nougat however, speaks to kindness as a bit more than moral goodness. Jesus himself speaks in His Sermon on the Plain and redefines kindness according to God’s Spirit. He places some extra, perhaps unwelcome clauses that include compassion, debt forgiveness, mercy, blessings and forgiveness of all manner of people – even our enemies!

Erm

No pressure right. Nothing we can’t do!

For many of us, it’s not quite as easy. For, when we see, hear, think of our ‘enemies’ (or those who wronged us), generosity might not be the first thing that comes to our hearts. Justice perhaps, maybe revenge … but loving them?! Doing good for them, knowing our kindness is likely to be rewarded with further abuse or ingratitude; that’s a lot to ask!

And in these economic times, we are to Lend Without Expectation of Repayment! Perhaps this isn’t the definition of kindness. Except that Jesus states that this is God’s way. God is kind to the ungrateful AND the wicked. God is kind and forgiving towards you and me. I believe that this kind of kindness or compassion comes directly from God’s Spirit.

This doesn’t mean that such behavior is only exhibited by believers in Christ. I have found that there are examples of ‘unbelievers’ who demonstrate different nutrients of the Fruit of the Spirit. Acts 28:2 recounts the hospitality extended to Paul and other shipwrecked folks in Malta. Some versions refer to this as unusual kindness. A few verses later, superstition reveals that they had not yet been exposed to Faith in Jesus Christ. We therefore, in whom the Spirit of God dwells, ought to be able and willing to bypass pain and prejudices to propagate Faith from our acts of kindness.

So where does that leave us?

I’d say desiring MORE of God’s Spirit to keep us going. God says abide in God (John 15) and discover that the more we abide In God, the more we look like God. God further asserts that when we walk In God’s Spirit we won’t pursue our ‘natural’ desires. (Galatians 5:16). May we have the diligent patience to allow God’s Spirit to perfect the fruit that is revealed in our lives.

P.s.

! use the YouVersion app to prepare the Nougats, and I think you should access it. (The app has been installed nearly 500 million times!) You can study God’s Word, read and watch daily devotionals, pray with friends, and more! Get it here: https://www.bible.com/app

—

May all we seek be found in Christ