Is Kindness a Weakness?

Thoughts during this Holy week.

Is Kindness a Weakness?

“The LORD is [unwaveringly] righteous in all His ways And gracious and kind in all His works.” Psalm 145:17 AMP

“One should never mistake kindness for weakness… For it is the moments that we apply kindness that our strength is revealed.” Unknown

Animals. Even a feral kitten tears my heart out. It’s so easy to be kind to this orange tabby kitten who is such a love bug. Most people find it easy to be kind to animals. They’re innocent and have no choices to improve their lot in life.

But people? They’re the hardest to be kind to. My sister and I had a disagreement about people. She thinks most people are basically good and kind. I argued that we are not naturally good and kind giving examples of toddlers having meltdowns in the grocery store to politicians accepting bribes. Warlords are disturbingly the same. We choose and learn to be kind. Or, we choose to be something else.

“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.” Romans 3.

It’s easy to be kind when a person is a good person but people are not good. I know I’m not. That’s why Jesus came. He is the kindest and strongest person to grace the Earth. He forgave us from a humiliating, bloody and shameful cross and continues this today. I think about Jesus trying to carry his cross with his back stripped down to the bone from the whips with sharp stones. Strength. While we were still hostile… More strength. And kindness.

Some think Jesus was a pacificist and a gentle man. But his fury at the temple when he threw out the money changers and called the religious elite white-washed tombs says differently. The Roman centurion asked Jesus to save his beloved servant from death. Jesus was ready to walk with the centurion to his home to heal the servent, but the centurian recognized Jesus’s strength and authority. A gentile who grasped what Israel could or would not. True authority and strength. Of course, the servant was healed that very moment the Centurion asked.

But Jesus was gentle and kind. He blessed the children and made time for them even though the disciples tried to shoo them away. Or the woman with a bleeding disorder who secretly touched Jesus’s robe and was praised for her faith. Jesus crying over Jerusalem and Lazarus’s death. Jesus in torment at the Mount of Olives. For us.

Perfect kindness and strength. Our example.

Musings

No one was as strong or as kind as Jesus. No one is good, except Jesus. It’s Palm Sunday as I write this and looking toward Good Friday. May we be strong and kind as we celebrate Jesus’ death, resurrection and eternal life.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Thank you for Your Supreme Gift, Jesus. We struggle to understand and to love as He did but your grace keeps us looking upward toward Him.

Thank you for the death, resurrection, forgiveness, grace and eternal life because of what Jesus did for us.

Hallelujah—Praise the Lord!

Amen.