WEBVTT 00:00:00.979 --> 00:00:05.740 The fruit of kindness or gentleness. No long 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.640 explanation is needed for the fruit of kindness 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:12.500 or gentleness. We all intuitively understand 00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.699 what that fruit entails. I think most of us would 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:19.920 say we're kind people and by that I think we 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.920 mean well -intentioned. But I know that all of 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.960 us can say there are times and people where it 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:31.510 can be hard to be kind or gentle. Or maybe we're 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:34.570 kind on the surface, we are polite, but we know 00:00:34.570 --> 00:00:37.950 our ugly thoughts. So today I'm going to focus 00:00:37.950 --> 00:00:42.109 on how we can produce this fruit. 1st Corinthians 00:00:42.109 --> 00:00:47.770 16 14 says, Let all your things be done with 00:00:47.770 --> 00:00:52.229 charity. Motivation is a big help to being kind 00:00:52.229 --> 00:00:56.070 and gentle. When we are motivated by love, it's 00:00:56.070 --> 00:00:59.149 easier to be kind. I really don't think you can 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.130 have one without the other. Love is patient. 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:06.609 Love is kind. Jesus was moved with compassion, 00:01:07.250 --> 00:01:09.530 and it's easier to be kind to someone when we 00:01:09.530 --> 00:01:12.689 have compassion. It's easier to put up with bad 00:01:12.689 --> 00:01:16.430 behavior or bad habits when we have compassion. 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:19.950 If we are having a problem being kind, we should 00:01:19.950 --> 00:01:23.849 pray for the root cause of kindness. We can pray 00:01:23.849 --> 00:01:26.409 what Paul prayed for the church in Thessalonica 00:01:26.409 --> 00:01:30.609 in 1 Thessalonians 312, and the Lord make you 00:01:30.609 --> 00:01:34.030 to increase and abound in love one toward another 00:01:34.030 --> 00:01:37.670 and toward all men, even as we do toward you. 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:41.079 Remember the parable Jesus told about the tree 00:01:41.079 --> 00:01:43.560 that wasn't producing fruit and the master was 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.799 like, cut it down. Why even have it grow? But 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.500 the gardener was like, let me fertilize it and 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:54.340 prune it. Love is that fertilizer. It is that 00:01:54.340 --> 00:01:57.140 extra nutrition that helps the fruit come forth. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:02:01.040 I had a friend remind me that the fruit of the 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.579 Spirit is a result of being filled with the Spirit. 00:02:05.060 --> 00:02:07.840 So in many ways we don't have to produce fruit 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.060 by our own willpower. We produce fruit because 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:14.259 of a focus on being in relationship with Jesus. 00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:19.479 We grow fruit because of our love, our outflow 00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:22.990 of the love of the Spirit. There's something 00:02:22.990 --> 00:02:25.530 amazing that happens when we set our affection 00:02:25.530 --> 00:02:29.030 on Jesus. There is an overflow that comes out 00:02:29.030 --> 00:02:32.069 as we interact with other people. If you're finding 00:02:32.069 --> 00:02:35.810 yourself unkind, rough or short with the people 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:39.810 or a person you are interacting with, you need 00:02:39.810 --> 00:02:43.490 to check on your relationship with Jesus. There 00:02:43.490 --> 00:02:47.430 are some things that we can prune to facilitate 00:02:47.430 --> 00:02:52.009 growth. Proverbs 31 26 says, she openeth her 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:55.590 mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law 00:02:55.590 --> 00:02:59.550 of kindness. James 1 19 says, wherefore my beloved 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:03.150 brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow 00:03:03.150 --> 00:03:06.629 to speak, slow to wrath. I feel like this is 00:03:06.629 --> 00:03:10.050 probably something most of us can use, slowing 00:03:10.050 --> 00:03:13.710 down our verbal response as well as our emotional 00:03:13.710 --> 00:03:18.520 response. I like how James says, My beloved brethren, 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:22.599 and then he says something hard. Be swift to 00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:25.460 hear, be quick to hear and slow to speak. Stop 00:03:25.460 --> 00:03:29.259 talking so much. Slow to anger. Don't be angry 00:03:29.259 --> 00:03:32.919 so much. I think this is a good example of kindness. 00:03:33.159 --> 00:03:36.759 James is kind. He uses a term of endearment and 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:42.259 then he says something hard. And I'm not advocating 00:03:42.259 --> 00:03:46.800 that we not say anything. James clearly shows 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.159 how we speak in kindness. I believe if you love 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.900 people you can say pretty hard things to them. 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:57.840 Being a speaker of truth is so very important 00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:02.360 but tact and in love are essential for kindness 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:06.280 and gentleness as you speak truth. If you have 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:09.659 strong character where you are consistent in 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:12.099 relationships with people, when you run your 00:04:12.099 --> 00:04:14.979 life with wisdom and walk in the spirit, people 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.079 are naturally drawn to that and you can say things 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.180 that are true with a gentle spirit. I've had 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:24.860 to say, that is not godly. That goes against 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:28.540 biblical principle. But you can say it gently. 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.360 You can say it with kindness. And this also takes 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.939 practice. But if we are quick to hear and slow 00:04:35.939 --> 00:04:39.420 to speak, it helps a lot. We can practice not 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:43.879 speaking, but listening. We can practice responding 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:47.959 well in hard situations. One thing is to go into 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:51.040 a situation with a plan. If you're shy, maybe 00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:54.000 the plan is to say hi first to the cashier or 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:57.220 to three people in a crowd. Maybe it is to make 00:04:57.220 --> 00:04:59.560 sure you thank people for what they did that 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:02.699 day, even if it was their job and what they were 00:05:02.699 --> 00:05:05.959 supposed to be doing. You might wake up and think, 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:08.560 today I'm going to speak kindly to my difficult 00:05:08.560 --> 00:05:11.399 kid. And you know, you probably won't hit the 00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:13.639 mark the first time. You're going to determine 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:16.399 to not snap at that person who's rude at work 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.399 and you're going to do good for like 90 seconds 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:23.000 and then respond sarcastically. But if you are 00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:26.050 persistent, things will change. If we keep asking 00:05:26.050 --> 00:05:29.129 God to fill our mouths with wisdom and our tongue 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:32.129 to speak the law of kindness, if we pray that 00:05:32.129 --> 00:05:34.350 the Lord would bridle our tongues and help us 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:39.149 be slow to respond and slow to anger, it will 00:05:39.149 --> 00:05:39.649 happen.