Fruit of the Spirit – Kindness
Video Questions
- How did kindness show up in the story from the video?
- How was this kindness the result of being connected to the Spirit?
Kindness is a way of life that is marked by others-focus, respect, and care for all people, whoever may come across our paths.
Scripture
Read Luke 7.11-17:
11 Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” 14 Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” 17 This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.
- In this passage, how does Jesus demonstrate kindness? What does he do? What does he say?
- What impact did Jesus’ kindness have in this passage? What might this teach us about the power of kindness in general?
General Questions
- How has God shown you kindness? (Think beyond providing you with salvation, though, of course, that is his ultimate display of kindness!)
- What can you do to show God kindness? What would this even look like?
- How can community help us squash our selfishness through showing kindness?
- Christian community is not always easy; how can we demonstrate kindness even when we hurt one another?
- Study after study has shown that people in America perceive Christians as judgmental. How does this perception impact our ability to show kindness?
- What does kindness have to do with being a witness?
Challenge
Think of a place you go each week. Where is it? What is a way you can show kindness there? Don’t think about a random act of kindness; think instead of a repeatable action you can do with consistency. This week, start intentionally being kind in that place!
Prayer
Father, being selfish is so easy and so often makes us feel good, at least in the short term. We confess that we are messed up and so rarely think of others before ourselves. This week, and every week, help us see the kindness of Jesus as we read stories about his earthly life. And then empower us by your Spirit to repeat similar habitual acts of kindness in our lives, not looking for something in return and not showing kindness only to certain types of people. Help us be more and more like Jesus. In his name we pray, Amen.