Sometimes we look at the circumstances of our lives and can’t help but think that God is trying to teach us a lesson. It is true that He sometimes disciplines us but He doesn't punish us. God is a God of kindness and of mercy and the more we read His Word, the more we will get to know His character. (You can read more about meditating on God's Word here.) In this blog post, we are going to be unpacking five of the most wonderful Bible verses about God’s kindness to us. When Jesus died on the cross, He took the world’s punishment on His shoulders and bore it away. Isaiah 53:6 tells us, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”.
I love Aesop’s fable about the North Wind and the Sun arguing about who could get a man to take off his coat. The North Wind tried to blow the coat off the man but the cold only made the man wrap his coat tighter around himself. It was the Sun who managed to get the man to take off his coat with its gentle, persistent warmth. Likewise, there is so much comfort in the fact that we do not have a harsh God, but rather a loving and patient Father, who is kind and gentle. So what does the Bible say about God’s kindness to us? Let’s look at five Bible verses about kindness. All verses are NIV unless otherwise stated.
1. "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.” Psalm 145:8-9 God is patient and kind with us, as a loving Father would be. Reading this verse reminds me of my own failings as a parent; the times that I hurry to finish bedtime or get impatient with my children's long and overly-detailed stories, but hurry and love are incompatible. Hurry puts us and others ill at ease. It closes down communication. But this picture of God shows us that He has time for us and He has compassion on us. What is your image of an earthly father? How is God different (or the same) as that image?
2. "God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” Romans 2:4 Like the Sun in Aesop’s fable, it is the kindness of God that softens our hearts and leads us back to Him. The way we behave in our Christian walk is based on a love relationship; we are not bound by strict rules. Because we love God, we want to be like Him. Hebrews 12 instructs us: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son". Hebrews 12:5-6 My youngest daughter has just turned three. When she does something wrong, I get down at her level and look her in the eye and explain why whatever she did was wrong, whether it was unkind or dangerous, so she understands not to do it again (she doesn't always listen). In this way, God disciplines His children, because it is a form of love. To grow up without ever being disciplined by our earthly parents or our Heavenly Father would be a form of neglect, not love. As we grow, we need correction. But as we see in this verse, it is God's kindness that leads us to change our ways, like the warm sun of Aesop's Fable. How have you seen God’s kindness to you today?
3. "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 We can trust in our God because He is kind and He doesn’t change. He doesn’t blow hot and cold, we can’t fall out of favor with Him. He is who He says He is. There is such comfort and safety in this and it is so different to the world, where people can't help but be fickle and where we face rejection and hurt. We are always going to be let down by people (and let other people down) all the way through our life. But that is why we need to get our sense of self-worth from the Bible, from God's mouth, and not from the world. The world changes like shifting shadows all around us but God doesn't change. Do you feel safe with God? Do you trust that He won’t change?
4. "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 Just as He forgave us. How much has been extended to us! What mercy, what grace, that God would look at Jesus and say we are forgiven, the slate wiped clean. So how can we hold on to resentments? There are no ifs or buts. Forgive, the Bible says, time and time again. I know how hard it can be to forgive when we feel we have been wronged. We want justice! But God wants us to be free: free of the bitterness that comes from resentment. He forgave us first, so let us learn, by His grace, to do the same. If you're struggling to forgive someone, then ask God for His help. Ask God now if there’s anyone you need to forgive.
5. "Blessed be the LORD, For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city." Psalm 31:21 (NASB) This verse is powerful because it speaks of God's kindness to us in the midst of difficult situations and that is so often where we need Him and seek Him. This Psalm encourages us that He will come near to us in difficulty. Have you ever experienced a time where you saw God's goodness to you in the middle of a hard time?
"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-17 This verse shows how the kindness of God is intended to be the very root of our life. God wants us to live out of the knowledge of His vast love and acceptance. His kindness is our foundation. For more helpful content dowload the Glorify App here.
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