Welcome back youngins! Time to move on to our next two fruits of the spirit! Last week we spoke about Peace & Patience. Today we will be discussing Kindness & Goodness. As a helpful reminder, I have included the scripture from Galatians that we have been studying from below:
“But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” -Galatians 5:22-23
Okay, so to start off, who would like to tell me what they think kindness means? How would you describe it to someone who may not know what it is?
Kindness, is an act of compassion towards others, showing a genuine concern for their well-being and displaying the willingness to serve [help] them without expecting anything in return. Kindness is an action, not just tolerance of others, superficial [surface] politeness, or pleasantries [courtesies]. It is rooted in genuinely caring about another’s feelings and emotions, putting them before and above your own, even when the person is difficult, may not deserve it, or does not appreciate it. Can anyone think of any examples of kindness?
How about kindness towards a bully? Have any of you ever had to deal with a bully, either at home, in school, or in your neighborhood? Imagine that same bully, who goes out of their way to torture you, now needs YOUR help. For example, you and said bully are outside riding your bikes, and all of a sudden, they fall off and hurt their knees really badly. So badly that they are in tears, bleeding, and can’t move. You are the only other person around them at that moment…the only other person who sees what’s happened. What do you do? That same bully, who treats you horribly, who doesn’t appreciate you and who frankly doesn’t deserve your help for how badly they treat you, is now in need of YOUR help. Hearing them wallow in pain, you run to your house in search of an adult and tell them whats happened.. You, seeing them in need and springing into action, despite what they’ve done or how they have behaved, is a perfect example of true KINDNESS. You have put their feelings, emotions and needs ABOVE your own, forgiving them for what they may have done and seeking out help for them, is what kindness is all about.
Which brings us to our next fruit: Goodness. What do you guys think goodness means? How would you describe it?
Goodness, is an uprightness of heart, choosing to do what is right instead of what is evil. Goodness can be described as having integrity [being honest], being morally upstanding [just], having decency [displaying correctness of heart] and being honorable [respectable]. Now…let’s go back to that bully.
Your decision to go and find help, not only makes you kind…it makes you GOOD. You could have CHOSEN to just leave the kid on the ground crying his little heart out. You could have even chosen to ride over to him/her and laugh at them, the same way they laughed at you. INSTEAD, you chose to do what was RIGHT in the sight of GOD. Make sense?
Living in agreement with the Holy Spirit can be difficult sometimes. However, when you choose to walk in God’s light, He will equip [prepare, provide] you with the things you need to be successful in your walk. What are some other ways you can show kindness and goodness towards others today?
Interactive Activity: Divide the letters of “KINDNESS & GOODNESS” [& sign included] evenly amongst the group and encourage each child to design their assigned letter(s) to their liking. These letters will then be collected, stored away with the prior weeks letters (Love, Joy, Peace & Patience) and used at a later date for the creation of a “bigger picture” activity.
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