Episode 8 - Fruits Of The Spirit: Kindness

Kindness isn’t a soft skill; it’s a spiritual power that reshapes hearts, homes, and whole communities. We dive into the fruit of the Spirit through Romans 2:4 and ask what it really means that God’s kindness leads to repentance. From there, we get intensely practical: how men can carry strength without harshness, why tone sets the climate of a household, and what it looks like to deliver hard truth without humiliation.

We walk through the moments that define kindness in Scripture. Jesus shields a guilty woman from a mob and then restores her with a clear call to change. He heals the ear of an enemy in the garden. The Good Samaritan crosses cultural and religious lines, spending time and money to restore a stranger. These stories challenge our defaults. We admit it’s often easier to be gracious to strangers than to our own family, and we offer steps to reverse that pattern—pausing before we speak, choosing tone before truth, and practising small, consistent acts of care that build trust.

Kindness also has missional weight. Most people aren’t argued into faith; they’re welcomed by it. We talk about kindness as everyday evangelism, serving without expecting anything back, and guarding the hearts of our kids with wise media choices and present, servant‑hearted leadership. Along the way, we wrestle openly with Matthew 25:31–46 and invite you to study with us as we seek clarity, because honest questions are part of honest growth. If you’re ready to trade niceness for biblical kindness—strength wrapped in gentleness—this conversation will give you Scripture, stories, and steps to start today.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. Tell us: who will you show undeserved kindness to this week?

Transcript

Setting The Stage: Kindness

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Welcome back to another episode of the Brotherhood Podcast. Today we are continuing our series on the fruits of the spirit. And today we're going to look at kindness. The uh so last week we looked at patience, and this week we'll look at kindness. They kind of go hand in hand, right? Love is patient, love is kind. Um kindness is also it's more than just being nice, it's uh strength, I guess, wrapped in gentleness. And we're just gonna look at today how we can be more kind, what it means uh to be kind biblically, and uh find out how how to do that as men. So um, our I guess before we get started, I'll read the uh fruits of the spirit again, Galatians 5, 22 and 23, as we have each episode in this series. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things, there is no law. And that's just a quick reminder and kind of recap of what we've been through, what's coming up, and uh I'll also read for you our anchor verse for the day, for this week, I guess, since we're doing this weekly, and that is

Reading Galatians And Anchor Verse

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Romans uh chapter two, verse four. That says, or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? So that's a pretty good one. Colton kind of came up with that one this week, and I am grateful for that because I was looking and I was like, you know what, that one's a pretty good one, so we'll stick with it.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Yeah, you know, I think the reason I came up with that one, it had a pretty big impact in my life. I had a youth leader. Um, he was a leader in the church and stuff. I sat down with once and going through some things in my life, and I kind of asked him, I said, I feel like I don't deserve what God's doing. Like it just doesn't make sense. And so he pointed this verse out basically in how God is kind to us to bring us back to himself, and uh yeah, it just kind of broke me down. So I figured for kindness that was a very perfect and fitting verse, I think, for what we're talking about today.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Yeah, and I think I like the end of it too. Um, it says, God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. So through his kindness and us experiencing and seeing his kindness, that leads us to repent from our um our worldly ways and our sinful ways, and turn to him. So I thought that was pretty cool too.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Stepping on my favorite verses for sure.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Yeah, it's good. I hadn't really that was not one that's really familiar to me. That's not one of your standard uh memory verses.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Not really, no. That one is uh is a little bit different. That's part of the reason I like it. It's uh something that not a lot of people, I don't think not a lot of people speak about, or not, it's not a verse you hear very often.

SPEAKER_03 4:16

Right, yeah, I'd agree. Um, so our first question,

Why Romans 2:4 Hits Home

SPEAKER_03 4:21

again, like I said last time, we're gonna stick with the same kind of three questions for our format here for each episode, um, and just kind of see how that works for a bit. We may change things up depending um on how it goes, but this is working for us so far. So the first question, if you've been following us for the last few, is what is kindness? So great question.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

I'm glad you asked.

SPEAKER_03 4:46

Yeah, I'm glad you asked.

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

Uh the so I have a few verses here, and actually one of them I just put the anchor verse because it's good. God's kindness leads us to repentance, and uh it's not his harshness. So um that's kind of what it's not.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

And Ephesians 4 32 is another verse I had, and it says if I could put there laugh if I had that one written down too, actually.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Oh, you did.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Oh, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 5:28

That is funny. Um be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Um and actually I did wonder about reading 31 as well. Um, that says, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And then it says, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. So those are kind of contrasting um verses there, one right after the other. And I I'll uh I'll kind of break these down. I think that's how I have this here afterwards after I read through these. Um the third one I have is Luke 635. And that says, But love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. So I thought that was pretty interesting. He being God is uh is kind to the ungrateful and the evil, um, displaying that we need to love our enemies as well. And there's more verses that um talk about that too. But uh a couple talking points I had, and then Colton, you can kind of bounce off of these two if you want to kind of have a conversation with them. Um with me.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I'll let you finish your talk because I've got a couple couple things I'd like to talk about in there for sure.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Okay. Um so biblical kindness does not equal niceness. Um, I think niceness is kind of personality, right?

What Is Kindness Versus Niceness

SPEAKER_03 7:35

How people portray themselves, and kindness is more of a spiritual maturity, I think. Um it's kind of hard to explain, but I think if you think of someone that's nice, um I don't know, it it can maybe be less genuine, maybe, is kind of my thought on that. Like you can be nice and not be kind, and kindness is kind of like comes from deeper within. I don't know if that makes sense to you guys, but that's what I was thinking too.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Like, I think you could almost explain nice as it could be more like superficial, I I think, in a sense. I mean, I could be wrong too, right? But I kind of think of someone being nice to someone, you know, if they talk to you nice or whatever, you meet them in the store, they'll treat you nice. But for some reason, I I think of it as yeah, like you said, kindness being on a deeper level, coming from you know, kind of the depths of your heart and actually um pouring your heart on your sorry, pouring your heart out on somebody is I I think kind of how I would see kindness like what you said.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Right. And uh I would also say it's action, action-oriented love. So choosing to do good even when it's uncomfortable. I think um just reading that, I think back to I think this was your story, but helping, you know, helping people in a grocery store with something on the top shelf. I think that's kind. And you're you know, you're going out of your way to do something for someone else, and lots of people might not feel comfortable approaching that person and helping them or whatever, they might, you know, shy away from something like that.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

So yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

Uh I also have uh kindness is strength. Um, so when we're talking about men and brotherhood and all that manly stuff, right? Sometimes you can think kindness and niceness is attributed to being weak, but that's not the case. Um, God shows strength through kindness multiple times in the Bible, and I have some examples of that. Um, actually, one that I'll read shortly. But um I think kindness is strength and not weakness. Um and God's kindness doesn't ignore sin, but it invites repentance. So um kind of what I was talking about there, I do have an example um where Jesus models kindness with truth, and uh for that I'll go to John chapter eight, which is somewhere in the Bible. Where is it? Well, you're looking for that. Oh oh you got it there. Okay, I found it, but if you have a comment, you can say it.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah, just a quick one. Uh, where you said that uh kindness is you know, to even your enemies, we are supposed to be kind. It makes me think of the story where Jesus is in, I think it's the Garden of Gethsemane when he's getting arrested, and um I don't remember which apostle it is, but he draws his sword and cuts his ear off, and Jesus heals his ear, you know, back to his head, and it's it's one of the the guys coming to arrest Jesus and you know bring him to his crucifixion. And uh I think that's a pretty powerful picture because Jesus calls us to be like him, right? Be kind to all people, you know. Um Jesus was kind to right up to the point of death on the cross, you know, where he says, forgive them for they know not what they do. That's because of the kindness of Christ, and I think that's uh a really powerful picture that we as Christians need to acknowledge, and we need to strive to be like that as well.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

Yeah, that's a actually a good example, too. Yeah, how just imagine that how kind is that? Like putting ear back on that's arresting you to go take you to be crucified. Um so the example that I have is um so John chapter eight. Um the first set of verses there is the woman caught in adultery. So I'll just read that quick. Um it's verses 53 to or no, sorry. Verses one

Kindness As Strength For Men

SPEAKER_03 12:54

to eleven. Um they went each to his own house, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground, and as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, No one, Lord. And Jesus said, Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on sin no more. So this is obviously an example of you know the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees trying to catch Jesus and um, you know, get him to stumble or whatever to see kind of what he would say about the law of the day. But um, I mean, we can't do this, uh we can't know for sure, but I've heard people say that like maybe what he was writing with his finger in the on the ground was like people's names, or maybe even the sins that they had committed, and so they're seeing him write these things, and one by one they're like, ah shoot, that's me. Uh and then he says he without sin throw the first stone, and not one of them um was blameless um before the law, anyway. So um I think that's important for us to remember as well while we when we relate to people.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Um like we're uh where's I going with that?

SPEAKER_03 15:38

Um like no one is perfect,

Jesus, Enemies, And Healing Ears

SPEAKER_03 15:45

like everyone has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, right? There's no one righteous, not one, except for Jesus. So um, so yeah, a couple bullet points I had there is uh like he doesn't crush her, he doesn't condemn her, um, he doesn't pick up a stone and throw it at her, too. Like, I wonder if that's what the Pharisees were thinking, like, oh man, he's gonna maybe he'll pick up a stone and and stone her too. He'll be the first one, but um he uh he kinda made sure everyone else knew that they were in the wrong as well. Um and then I think what's important is so he didn't condemn her, uh which he had all the right to, um, but he told her to go and sin no more. So that's the repentance side of things that I was talking about earlier, right? So um I think kindness is also how we say the hard things. So you can uh you know you can you can be right or you can have a happy wife. No. You can be right or have a good marriage, you can't have both. No, I'm just kidding. Um so you can uh you can say the right thing the wrong way, right? Um, I think our delivery matters, tone matters, timing matters of the things that we say, and as men, I think often we pride ourselves on you know telling it like it is, telling the truth, like this is it, black and white. Um, but Jesus told the truth, like in this scenario as well. He knew that she was um she was sinful, but um, and the other the guys were sinful too that were there, but Jesus told the truth in a way that healed and didn't humiliate. Um so he, yeah. I mean, I think often when if we are in circumstances like that and dealing with people like that, we think like, give your head a shake, why are you doing this? Um, but we're not perfect either.

Woman Caught In Adultery: Truth With Grace

SPEAKER_03 18:17

So we uh um I think we have to look at ourselves as well. Oh, there's there's another verse that we could have done. Take the speck out of your own eye before you point out the log in your brother's eye.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

I don't know why that it's just never ending. I don't think we can we could do probably five or six episodes on each one of these if we really wanted to.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

Honestly, yeah, we could. Um, yeah, it's funny, it's kind of like a rabbit trail here, but um so I've been I don't know if I've told it on the podcast, but I've taught talked to Colton. I've been asked to speak a couple times since starting the podcast, and I've done that and um kind of when I started and and even beforehand, I'm like, man, how do pastors like how do they find stuff to talk about every week? It's like it's just one like this is it. That's just that book. How do you how do you find new stuff to talk about? But it's uh I'm finding now the more that I study, the more that yeah, just the more there is to it, and the more things are interconnected, and yeah, like Colton said, we could just go on and on and on and on and on.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

So yeah, yeah, it's pretty neat to see how it works, and yeah, it's like the book that never stops giving. I don't think they call it the living word of God for no reason.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

Right. This is this I don't know. Did you when you were younger, did you watch the uh the never ending story? No, no, I didn't. Okay, well, okay, so this is the true never-ending story. For anyone that gets my reference, yeah. Um anyway, back on track. Uh yeah. So uh a couple things that I have here for us to think about, some questions for you guys to ponder. Um, is when when we're speaking to our wives, our kids, our co-workers, are we speaking with kindness or um or just telling the truth? So you can you can tell the truth, but you can do it in not a kind way, right? As we talked about. And um and think about too would the people in your life describe you as kind um or just correct? Like, oh yeah, he's right all the time, but he's not coming. So there's a couple things for us to ponder, and then I'll uh with that, I'll just hand off to Colton and he can kind of go over the things that he found for um for what kindness is yeah, I I really like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

I think uh I think that's a good question to think about, and I think as Christians, you know, like the Bible says, um and again I don't know word for word, but think about the heavenly things, right? And and the things that are gonna give us um our rewards in heaven and and not on earth, and I think a lot of what we're talking about, I think leads to that too. Um kindness, the fruits of the spirit, right? This is how God called us to live here, and the world, again, like I always say, the world tells us otherwise, but this is the direction that we need to be going if if we want to um seek the kingdom of God, right? Is is listening to what God speaks to us through his word. Uh a couple of the verses I had with what is kindness. My first one was Acts 14, verse 14 to 18, and it says, But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worth worthless things to the living God who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past he let all the nations go their own way, yet he has not left himself without testimony. He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. Even with these words they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. And so the way it explains kindness here is being generous, you know, providing God is the God of provision, and that is part of his kindness. Is um, you know, I know for myself we've noticed it many times where we've been in a place where like we're not making a whole lot of money, I don't know how we're gonna make this work. And you know, eight months down the road, we're still doing okay, and it's like, wow, okay, God is providing. I don't know how, I don't know where, but he's providing, you know, it's out of his kindness that he brings provision and brings joy to our heart, right? Leave it in his hands. That's uh that's something that we need to do often is surrender to him and not take things into our own hands. I've done that one too many times, and I'll tell you right now, it doesn't end good, just surrender to God and it will end a lot better, I promise. Uh, I had another verse here to go along with this, James 1 verse 27. So this one speaks a little bit about caring for widows and orphans. Uh, I think this is really important to part of being kind. Um, so James 1 27, and this says, Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. So again, we are to be in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We're supposed to be separate because of the Holy Spirit living in us. So all the fruits of the Spirit we're talking about are supposed to be in us and it should be pouring out of us because of the love and the kindness of God living in us. And uh this verse here just explains that to take care of orphans and widows, I think a big part of that is putting ourselves last and putting others first, right? That's part of kindness too, is being the last on your list to be taken care of. You need to be taking care of those around you, especially widows and orphans, and I think there's a huge blessing that comes with that too, and just a joy that I don't I don't think it compares, you know, if you're able to help a widow feel comfortable or you know, they're going through a hard time or whatever, even orphans. I mean, you know, you find or watch little children who don't have a family. I mean, I can't imagine how hard that would be, you know, and the one person to step up and show them kindness, I think could could change their whole life, you know. And like I say, there's a lot of joy that comes from that that um you won't find from the world. Again, as the verse says, you know, keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Nowadays that's pretty hard. You know, you open your cell phone and everything's right there. You see the news, you watch YouTube or Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Like there's all these different um there's all these different apps you can go on that just they tell you what the world wants to tell you. You know, you wanna look like this, you want to be like this. You're not pretty unless this or that, or you know, as a man, you gotta work out, you gotta be this big jack bodybuilder, else nobody's gonna carry it. Guys, don't don't listen to that. That's a bunch of bunch of garbage, I guess, is the way you could put it. Right? Just go to what the Bible says,

Parenting, Tone, And Gentle Truth

SPEAKER_01 26:45

and you know, again, I struggle with this quite often. I have a lot of work to do in this area, but um, that's why we as Christians are supposed to work together in a group is uh it's a lot easier for us to be in a community than to try and do this on our own. Uh so the verse that you said there, Craig, Ephesians 4, verse 32. I had this one written down too. So I'm gonna touch on that one a little bit again.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Um again, it says, be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Sorry, missed the last half of that one. Yeah, so forgiveness that's a huge part of kindness. Again, you're putting yourself last and putting somebody else first. That is very important when it comes to being kind and being a follower of Christ. How many times did he put others' needs before himself? Like I say, you know, he healed uh the man that was gonna kill him, he was gonna bring him to his crucifixion. You know, when we really sit down and think about that, if you know someone in your life, you know, and maybe it's not that severe, but you know somebody who really didn't like you, you know, for me, uh, I know I mentioned this in our episode on our testimonies. Growing up, there was one individual I know that really I don't think had an ounce of even like for me in his heart. And uh try try forgiving somebody like that, you know, try being kind to someone like that. It's it's not easy, and I can't say that I don't think I can say that I've had the opportunity to do that to this individual. I haven't seen him in years, but uh this verse is just explaining that we need to be kind to one another, compassionate for one another, and forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you. Right? So again, be like Jesus, follow his example. Um the last verse I have on the question of what is kindness is Matthew chapter 7, verse 12. And this one I really like too. I think it's uh I think it's something a lot of parents teach their kids. And from my experience being a parent, I find I try to teach my kids a lot of things, um, but I don't necessarily listen to my own advice, which uh probably isn't super healthy, right? We gotta live by example and show our kids how to live, and that's not always an easy thing to do either.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

No, it's not. So Matthew. Sorry, uh I'll just interject for a second. I was thinking about like with what you're saying there. We're teaching um yeah, teaching our kids these things, but we don't always follow it. It also I think goes to say with what we're teaching here this past week. Um like because we did the episode on patience last week, right? Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 30:29

Did you pray for patience?

SPEAKER_03 30:30

I didn't actually. Maybe I said give us patience. So I might have messed up there. But anyway, yeah, my one of those weeks, wasn't it? My kids tested my patience this week, that's for sure. And I kept thinking back to like I'm teaching this stuff on the podcast to these other guys, and I need to follow it too. And I'm like, like ready to burst. Yeah, I need to go take a breather or something. I don't know what you guys drive me insane.

SPEAKER_01 31:14

Oh, yeah, it's a hard thing. I prayed for patience, and uh, you know, this time I don't think it was quite as intense as it's been in the past. So I'm I'm thankful for that, but I think it's also a blessing when God uh teaches us patience, too.

SPEAKER_03 31:35

Yeah, sorry, a little bit of a rabbit hole, but also kind of on top of it.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

So you think that's all good. Uh okay, last verse I have for what is kindness, Matthew 7, verse 12. And this one says, So in everything do to others what you would have them do to you. For this sums up the law and the prophets. So the goal is respecting kindness. Pretty simple, right? Yeah. I wish. No, I I wish it was easy, you know. I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if everybody's heart was just filled with love and kindness. And then I remind myself that in order for that to happen, uh, Adam and Eve probably would have not have had to eat that apple off that tree. So I don't think we'll ever hit a point where everybody's heart is, you know, truly full of of love and kindness, but just think of what the world would be like. I mean, imagine heaven when you get there. And that's what you know, that's what it's gonna be. There's no hate, there's no anger. It's uh I don't know, it it's you'd think it'd be a really easy thought, but when you really sit down and think about it, I mean I think all our hearts and minds have ever known is sin.

Provision, Widows, And Pure Religion

SPEAKER_01 33:02

So to comprehend what perfect kindness and love looks like, I think is a little bit hard to wrap our minds around.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

Yeah, I think it is. I think we uh we probably won't know exactly what that's like until we get there. Um but I was thinking too, like I wonder if it will be that much greater because of what we experience here on earth. Um but also to your point about Adam and Eve not eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, um someone was gonna do it.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

So might as well have been get it over with right away.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

Right? Well, and you know again, if they would have never eaten the fruit of the tree, we would have always just been in a perfect relationship with with God. Yeah, right. So we I don't think and again, I don't know how it looks in heaven or exactly how it's gonna be, but I sometimes wonder if we're gonna have like a recollection of our life on earth a little bit and kind of you know what that looked like to realize um the blessing and just the the peace that we're going to have when we get to heaven. Yeah. There's a lot to think about when it comes to like you know, passing away and being in heaven, and you read about a lot of different things in the Bible, and I definitely don't understand it. I mean you go to Revelation, there's so much that is it's hard to unpack and and understand, but if you really like I say, if you think about it, it's as a Christian Yeah, you gotta wonder what it's gonna be like when you get there and just everything is perfect. You know, no problems, no no hunger, no more pain, no suffering, no no nothing. At the same time, I think that's where we need to kind of draw our um fruits of the spirit from too is you know thinking about what what Jesus is like and a little bit what heaven is like, and I think we need to try and as Christians bring that to earth and to the people around us, you know. As the Bible says, um you don't light a lamp and hide it under a bowl, you put it on the hill for all the people to see. Right.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

Uh okay, that made me think of Philippians for eight.

SPEAKER_01 35:52

While you're looking for that, actually, I want to ask, is is there a specific time for you, Craig, that you can think of growing up where somebody showed you true kindness that just changed your life, or that you feel you know that moment kind of made a big impact on you?

SPEAKER_03 36:12

You know what? I was kind of already thinking about this, and this is the only reason I'm saying this is because it's at the front of my mind now, because of what you were saying with the taking care of the widows and stuff like that. Yeah. Um, so as you know, and some of the people that are listening know that Amanda and I went to Africa a few years ago on a mission trip, and our purpose there was to help a couple widows uh build a house. And um, one of them was an older lady, and she didn't have any kids with her or anything like that, but her old house was just dilapidated and like not livable. Um so we were helping her with that, and uh she was like, so I don't know, like this is kind of kindness, but so we were doing that out of the kindness of our heart, right? We were there just to serve, we're not expecting anything in return, and she had nothing to give, she had nothing to give us, and like I said, that was not the point. We're not expecting anything from her, but we're we're working away, and you know, it's midday, lunchtime, and uh she comes out around the corner with a pot full of um potatoes, and she had put some spices and stuff like that in there. She had a few forks and just kind of whatever she had, and uh it was just from her garden. She went and picked it while we were working, and and she made it for us, and she, you know, that's all she had to give us, and she just gave that to us to eat, and uh so that was very kind of her to give that, like that's her food, right? That's her stuff that she needed to live because she like literally dirt poor there, like she had nothing, so um, that made a big impact on me. I was like, oh man, like you think about the the the lady that gave um oh man in the temple or whatever, like she gave just her two talents or whatever she had, right? And and the Pharisee, like people were scoffing at her because she only gave a little bit, right? But she gave everything. So um that's kind of a cool story uh for me. And then I guess kindness as well for me, like I talked about in our in the in the testimony episode, uh you know, the youth pastor and the guys that spent time with me from that church, um early mornings and and coffees and stuff like that, and you know, taking me around and all that kind of stuff, doing things that they didn't have to do, taking time out of their day and buying me coffees that they didn't have to buy for me. But I mean they were doing the kingdom's work, and it tasted delicious. So both of those had to do the food and something that you could taste anyway. So that's why I've been there as a family. Uh anyway, I forget what you said now, but it made me think of um Philippians 4.8. Okay, which says uh finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there's any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. So you're kind of talking about thinking about um good things and stuff like that. So

Media, Home Leadership, And Guardrails

SPEAKER_03 40:05

that came to mind, so I just uh quickly grabbed it there.

SPEAKER_01 40:09

No, I love it. That's that's the verse I was thinking about. I just again I don't remember all of them. I I wish I did. That is something I need to work on, but yeah, thank you for bringing that up. That's actually the exact verse I think I was had on my mind there.

SPEAKER_02 40:24

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Well, while you were talking, I Googled it, so I kind of cheated, but whatever.

SPEAKER_03 40:31

Hey, it works, we found it. Yeah, that's right. Uh okay. Uh, second question that we have is uh why is kindness important? That's important to think about. Uh anyway, so the first two that I have are um I'll just read the section that I want to talk about for it, but Luke uh 6.35, which I already read. Um God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Uh, and then in our anchor verse, Romans 2.4, his kindness leads us to repentance. That's important. Um and then the third one I have is 1 Corinthians uh 13.4. Uh I was there and then I ended up looking up the Philippians verse. Um so this one, yeah, thanks. Um we we kind of already talked about it at the beginning, but uh this one, 1 Corinthians 13 4, is the uh love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant. Um those will lead me into my talking points here. So kindness reveals God's heart. Uh so when we as men act with kindness in a world that is mostly harsh, as we can see, um, there's wars everywhere, and even just people are negative and want to attack you left, right, and center. Uh but when we act with kindness in a world that is harsh, we reflect um the father's love. Everything's tied back to love. I think uh the the next point I have here is kindness is evangelism. So most people come to Christ through uh the bridge of experiencing kindness, not through theological arguments, though um I will say knowing your Bible is important, um, knowing some theology is important, but if you think back, for those of you that are believers, if you think back to when you um gave your life to the Lord, was it because somebody had a theological debate with you and argued with you about this, that, or the other thing? Probably not. It wasn't for me. Um, so I think like for me, I love watching you know, street pe street preachers and street evangelists, like Ray Comfort and all that kind of stuff, like arguing for the faith and debates, and they're like, oh yeah, get it. Um and then the points they make, I'm like, yeah, that got them. But anyway, um I think I think that we need to show um show God's kindness, show the Lord's kindness to people before we um get into these theological discussions. So I think we can um like people don't uh like if they don't realize the like or recognize the Bible as truth and as God's word, and they don't recognize God yet as who he is, how can we expect them to understand anything that's written in there, right? Like um I've had conversations with people and they um like if I use the Bible to try and prove a point, they're like, Well, I don't believe the Bible. Like, okay, well, I guess fair enough. I don't know where we go from here. Like, well, I do, I think it is, but um yeah, you have to yeah, it starts with love, I think, and and kindness to other people and serving other people and uh being a contrast to what they see in the world and and having them realize or recognize hey, there's something different about this guy, what is it? And then you can say, or I can say at least, like it's not me, it's Christ through me, because I would I mean, for me, I had some crazy anger issues when I was younger, you know, like I'll tell a little story. I remember uh we were at the in-laws one time, and this was before we had the dog we have now, this was a long time ago. Uh we had a different dog, and I yelled at the dog like to get out. I think it got in the house. I'm like, get out, and anyway, the um Amanda's aunt who I worked for at the time, she's like, Oh, that scared me. She's like, I've never heard you yell before. Like, oh yeah, I can do it. But uh, yeah, but I was yeah, I would I would curse, I would yell, I would like, yeah. I mean, even sometimes now I don't curse anymore, but uh, you know, I think I find myself yelling probably at the kids or raising my voice a little more than I should, not showing kindness to them like I should. But um, yeah, we need to this is convicting for me, but we need to um we need to show kindness, especially to our kids. Our home is our first mission field, right? So oh, and I I sorry, I'm kind of going off. I heard uh I heard a message to um it was uh what do you say? I forget who it was, but he was talking about showing kindness to people, and he's like, why is it that we're more likely to show kindness to strangers, people we don't know, rather than our own family members or people that like you know, friends with or whatever. We're often more harsh with our wives and with our children than we are with someone that we're never gonna see again. So that's that kind of hit too. I'm like, oh man, yeah. I mean, my wife can correct me if she wants, but I don't like we're not super harsh to each other, but I feel I do feel like I'm too harsh with my kids at times.

SPEAKER_01 47:50

So let you guys in on a little bit of my struggles, you know what though, I think that's good that you acknowledge that, and that you know, you realize that that's something that you need to work on, right? I think I don't know. I mean, I think there's every parent can do a better job, right? No parent is perfect, it's like being a Christian. Nobody's a perfect Christian, we never will be. Um one thing I I've learned in my life though is when you make mistakes, you just gotta fess up to apologize for what you've done. You know,

Good Samaritan: Compassion Across Lines

SPEAKER_01 48:30

I know I've had to go back to my kids and say, you know, I'm sorry that I did this. I should have been a little more patient, I should have been a little bit more calm, you know, and apologize. Yeah, you know, and maybe it's for something as simple as wrongfully getting them in trouble for something that maybe they didn't end up doing, but you didn't have the patience to listen, right? So, no, I give you a lot of credit for being able to fess up to that and and acknowledge that. I think that's the first step in correcting that, and I think that's why it's cool going through this because I think God is pointing out even in in our lives a lot of areas that need to be corrected and a lot of areas that need to be worked on.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

Right. Yeah, I agree. Well, thank you. Um, I do have also um another portion of scripture here that kind of um displays why kindness is important, and so that is Luke chapter 10, verses 25 to 37. So it's a little bit longer, but this is the parable of the good Samaritan. So the parable of the good Samaritan. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, What is written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, You have answered correctly, do this, and you will live. But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Jesus replied, A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now, by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So, likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two deneri and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back. Which of these three do you think prove to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, The one who showed him mercy. And Jesus said to him, You go and do likewise. So this like if you do any kind of studying culturally, like the the Samaritans, the Levites, um like Jews and Samaritans were not to um basically talk to each other, touch each other, anything like that. I think if I'm right, uh you guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the Jews viewed the Samaritans as unclean or something like that. So um in this parable, um we're crossing cultural, political, and religious barriers to show compassion. So it doesn't matter what people group you're from, it doesn't matter what religion you are, it doesn't matter your skin color, your um social status, whatever it is, um, we're to show compassion to all people. Um and kindness turned a stranger into a neighbor, I guess. So these people didn't know each other before. And I think what's interesting is that the Samaritan didn't just uh like patch him up and take him into town and drop him off at um I guess maybe there wasn't hospitals back then, but didn't drop him off at a hospital to get taken care of, or didn't take like drop him off at an inn, I guess, and then leave him to fend for himself. He he paid the guy's way, right? He paid for the room, he paid for the food, and he said, even more so, when I get back, I'll cover the rest of the bill, whatever you pay, or whatever you end up spending on taking care of this guy. So um, I think that is going like above and beyond, right? Um, so I thought that was interesting.

SPEAKER_01 53:49

Yeah, I really like that story. I think that's a very good example of what it should look like even nowadays, you know. Like I say, putting someone else before your someone else's needs before your own needs, right?

SPEAKER_03 54:05

Right. Um, I have a couple other points here. Uh kindness builds trust and safety in relationships. So I think that our families especially uh need kind firmness, like raising our children and even being um leaders of our household. Um, it's a hard thing because you know in our culture it gets kind of made fun of, right? Who wears the pants in the family and um things like that, right? Uh and it's a hard thing with the you know feminist movement and women's rights and all that kind of stuff. But guys, we are the head of our household. And um I mean, not to be so harsh to just say my way or the highway, but we are ultimately the last say in what goes on, right? And uh I think I mean we were kind of on the same page anyway, but um, this just an example, a real life example in our marriage, like uh I don't know if any of you guys have Netflix, but I suggest you delete it if your kids are on there, because there is so much garbage, and um this has been years coming for us. Like a few years ago, we noticed like oh, there's some stuff, there's like some uh like same-sex stuff in like a Jurassic Park show that I found before my kids watched it, so I'm thankful for that. And then I ended up blocking that show, but it seemed like you turn like no matter which way you turn, what you try to turn on, um there's just so much of that now in our world, it's not like when we grew up, and even Disney, you can't just put a Disney movie on and trust that it's gonna be okay for your kids to watch, like so now in our household, like I I talked to my wife, I'm like, you're canceling Netflix or canceling Disney, that's not allowed in our house, and she's like, Yeah, okay. And uh so like it's not even just a matter of too much screen time, it's a matter of what you what you're allowing your kids to consume.

Kindness As Evangelism Over Argument

SPEAKER_03 56:25

And yeah, I mean, some of you guys might feel convicted on this. Do I know there's some um some that do watch a lot of Netflix and stuff like that and kind of just let their kids watch whatever? And I just I really urge you guys to be careful and really screen what your kids are watching, and even like when I was younger, you can go on YouTube and kind of search stuff up. I mean, when YouTube first started, it was like cat videos and stuff like that, it was all fun and prank videos and things like that. But um kids can't have free reign of that either. Um I mean, do what you want, my kids don't, so um, there's another rabbit hole, but uh but yeah, anyway, back to the the kind firmness. Like I didn't fight with my wife on it, we but we had a conversation, and you know, I explained to her, I'm like, uh she knew it too. But um like that we can't we can't just keep well for one, like I am not paying to subsidize these companies that are supporting these ideologies and forcing force feeding them to our children. I think that's not okay. Yeah, anyway. That's a bit of a political thing, too, but it's also like we need to guard our children from their um and so yeah, kind firm, kind firmness, not aggressive leadership. So we are to be the head of our household, um, but we need kind firmness, not aggression, uh, when we're leading our families.

SPEAKER_01 58:08

Uh can I quickly touch on that point? Yes, please. I so I actually had a conversation with somebody this week on that, and I think for a lot of um for a lot of non-Christian people, I think that's a hard verse to understand because I think it gets uh very easily misunderstood. I just want to uh also mention in the Bible, so as Craig was saying, when it comes to the man being the head of the household, it says that we are the head of the house as Christ is the head of the church. So Christ didn't you know forcefully make anybody do anything, he gave us free will for a reason. Um, when it comes to a marriage, when it comes to a husband and wife, we're not here to you know make our wives do what we want them to do. That's that's not what the Bible's saying. Like Craig said, we are um just here to kind of finalize the decision. At the end of the day, as the Bible says, it is the man's say uh at the end of the day, again, not to be taken, you know, to say that we are just in control, and what the wife says doesn't matter, um, because the Bible also says that the husband should love his wife, and the wife should respect her husband. I think that's the order it goes in. But um, I think that that's something I wanted to share along those lines. I think it really makes it a bit more clear that you know we're supposed to love our wife, right? So we are the head of the household, but do it lovingly when you have a discussion, come to an agreement and uh and agree on it together, and the wife should respect the husband for. Leading the family in the way that Christ led the church. So I just wanted to throw that in there because I I did have a discussion that uh this week with somebody on that. And um I think, yeah, like I say, I think that's a point that often gets a little bit misunderstood, um, maybe by people who aren't believers, and that's just I think one way that um might help you guys look at it a bit a bit better and not seem quite so harsh.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:31

Yeah, I think um yeah, like you said, the like people often view that well, they'll take one part of that verse and not the other, right? They'll take uh the the the men will take and run with wives submit to your husbands, right? Like, hey, you're supposed to submit to me, but husbands love their wives as Christ loved the church and that he gave his life for the church. So yeah, that's the other side of the coin. So we yeah, we've talked about this verse before, but um men be a husband that's worthy of the respect of a loving wife. That's our call. Um, so I think here like my notes are convicting me. We as men often underestimate the impact of our tone, uh, or the impact that our tone has on our household. So I mean, I am seeing that, you know, when I'm you know, when I'm angry or when I'm you know yelling or whatever. I mean, I don't scream at my children, so don't get me wrong. I'm not like verbally abusive, but I can read them. Um but it it just maybe I'm just noticing it more, but it just seems like a lot more lately than normal. But so I have to work on that, pray for me. But uh yeah, I think we underestimate the impact that our tone has on our entire household because we're the leaders of the household. I think our tone sets the tone for the rest of our family and the rest of our household, and so we need to lean lead with that kindness, um lead with a kind heart. Um, yeah, and to piggyback off of that, kindness is the antidote for anger and pride. So uh we can't be kind and prideful at the same time, and you can't be kind and explosive with anger. Um I think kindness is you know, gentleness, calmness. Um, it requires humility uh from us and uh yeah, spirit dependence as well. So depending on the Holy Spirit to you know lower the temperature a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:19

Uh yeah, so I mean, so God's God's love isn't conditional, but is it so is our so these are some reflective questions for you guys? Is think about is your kindness conditional? Is our kindness conditional? Are we kind only when uh other people are kind to us or our kids are doing what we say or our wives are doing what we say or whatever? Um is it only shown is our kindness only shown to people that treat us well? Um and and then think who in our lives needs uh to experience undeserved kindness from us. So I think

Sheep And Goats: A Hard Passage

SPEAKER_03 1:04:07

uh if we think about undeserved kindness, uh Jesus came and died on the cross for us, and you know, yeah, very undeserved, yeah, very undeserved. Um, he didn't deserve that, we deserved his punishment. And uh so that gift, that gift, that kindness is totally undeserved uh for us. And what's showing a little bit of kindness, we're not we're not getting crucified, so yeah. It's uh I think it's a lot easier to show. Well, okay, it's not easy because I'm struggling with it, but it's uh I think I'd quick I'd rather show people kindness than to um like by being patient with them, loving them, whatever, serving them instead of going and dying on the cross. So um, yeah, yeah. So that's kind of what I had for why is it important? And uh so you can go. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:18

That was great. Thanks. Yeah, so everybody listening, kindness is important, important, yeah. Finish okay, all right, guys. So uh a couple verses I had on why is kindness important, like we said at the beginning, it just is, so just do it. No, I'm just kidding. All right, uh, Matthew 25, 31 to 46. So, again, a little bit of a longer verse, but um here we go. Then Jesus told them, Oh, hang on, I'm in the wrong chapter. Okay, we look at that. Okay, sorry guys, here we go. Uh the heading is The Sheep and the Goats. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The king will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not invite me in. I needed clothes, and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me. They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or needing clothes or sick in prison, and did not help you? He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. So again, that's a lot to unpack, and it's kind of scary, you know what when you think about it. And I don't know about you, Craig, but I know me personally. Um being a Christian, I've always been told that as long as we believe in Jesus, that's what it takes to be saved. Which I haven't changed my belief on that. I think to believe in Jesus, but to have a relationship with him, I think is very important. And um I think this is another one of those hard passages, but I think it's uh I think it's about relationship, right? God calls us to kindness, and and it is important, as this verse says, you know, you gave the hungry something to eat, you gave the thirsty something to drink, and and again, guys, this is all Jesus talking through this passage here. Um and Jesus says, What you did for one of the least of these, um, of my brothers or sisters, so in my mind, uh, you know, I see that being, you know, God or Jesus calling them brothers and sisters. I see that being the family of Christ. So whatever you did for one of the least of the family of Jesus Christ, you've done for Jesus Himself. And uh that should really speak volumes as to what it means to be kind, you know, why it's important, right? It's important because you're doing this for the family of God, right? And your kindness will I think shine through your life and show others um the character of Jesus through that as well, right? And then I mean the verse goes on to say that there's people who didn't feed you, and people who didn't give him water, and people who didn't clothe him, you know, who are going to the eternal fire. Now, I'm not saying that if you're not kind one day, you know, you're not going to heaven. That's not what I'm saying at all. Um, again, there's I think there's a lot of studying that could be done on just this passage alone. Um, but I do believe that kindness should be the result of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. And what I am saying is that it is important that you know we feed the hungry, we take care of those around us who are maybe less fortunate. You know, I think for me this verse is is saying that we've been blessed, and we need to use our blessings to bless others too and take care, like I say, take care of people who are less fortunate and maybe don't have what we have, you know. Maybe homeless on the street, you know, pack a lunch, bring them some food one day. Um something simple like that. And maybe this isn't I don't know what you think, Craig, but maybe this isn't referring just specifically to that. I think even spiritually, right? Giving people something to eat. Um I think that could be a spiritual uh idea too, right? Giving them the word of God to to chew on because the Bible does say that um and how's that go again? Man does not live on bread alone, yeah, but on every word of God or something, right? Yeah, yeah. So again, I I mean I don't know what your thoughts are on this passage, Craig. I just maybe it's good to get your opinion on it too, just to make sure I'm not you know misrepresenting what what it's saying.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:19

No, that's good. You know, one thing I didn't notice until just now is that it's um like it says whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, that's the NIV. Um so yeah, brothers and sisters of mine, like you said, that's the family, that's brothers and sisters in Christ. Um that's something now I need to think a little bit more on because I thought it just meant like least of these, anyone. Um so now this isn't I don't think this is to say that only we're only to care for um the people in the church that are struggling. I don't think that's exactly what it's saying. Um but I mean I I don't know for sure, but I think maybe it's stressing that, like um because they're because the people fellow believers, they are in the family of God, and they are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and they are co-heirs with Christ, and um they're part of I guess the royal family um of Christ, and I gotta be careful how I put this. I don't want to say

Studying Tough Texts Together

SPEAKER_03 1:13:55

people who dare put their needs above everyone else's, but I mean um I you see this in you see it a lot in like Mennonite uh communities, at least I've noticed. Um like their churches, I think, are very good at this. Um they like you you and I both sold insurance, right? And talking to some of those German like Mennonite families, uh a lot of them were like, No, I don't need it, my church will take care of me.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:33

Um if I need it. And like they're not doing it as a charity case either. They're not saying I expect these people to take care of me out of pity for me, but they're also willing to take care of the other people in their community as well, in their church. Yeah. So um absolutely. I think that's that's I don't know if that's exactly what it's saying here, but it's uh it's uh yeah. Anyway, I'm I'm wrestling with this in my mind right now as we're talking because I had I hadn't noticed that before that it was these brothers of mine or brothers and sisters of mine, and well uh the the ESV, sorry, uh yeah, it's uh the least of these my brothers.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:27

Um it might be I think okay, I think we've come across something interesting. So this is episode eight for those that are listening, and I don't think we've run into a place where we've not doubted a passage, but where we've um maybe not fully understood, which I think is good.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:59

Um I think it's okay. Um and just like also to show to you guys and stress to you guys like what we've been saying all along, we are not biblical scholars, we're researching scholars, uh we're learning with you guys, and what we want to do is we want to learn ourselves, but through learning and having these conversations together um with the podcast, you guys can listen to us talking and and working things out as well. And I think um like Colton and I uh were talking as well like before we recorded, and both of us were like, I don't feel very prepared for this one. And uh and we did say, like, well, Colton said, he's like, I think those ones turn out better, and honestly, I think they do, and um the ones that we are we don't feel like we're as prepared for. I think we end up having more of these kind of conversations, and and yeah, like Colton said, we haven't really run into any verses that were like, wait a second, what does this actually mean? So this is something we're gonna have to study a little bit more and pray a little bit more ourselves, and uh I would urge you guys to do the same thing. Maybe you're like me and you hadn't noticed that until now either, until it was mentioned. But I read this verse I don't know how many times, I've heard it in sermons, I don't know how many times, but now just now I'm like, oh, it says brothers or brothers and sisters of mine. So, but yeah, like I said, I don't I don't think it's saying don't like forego caring for the homeless if they're not believers. I don't think that's what it's saying. Um, but I think maybe it's stressing to say that we need to take care of our church family as well, and uh that's obviously important enough um to be mentioned in here the way that it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:58

So when you said your version says it kind of differently, like it'll and I'm kind of curious too, now that I'm thinking about it, because further down, um Jesus says in verse 45, sorry, I'll start in 44. They also will answer, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you? He will reply, Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:35

So even if it's even if it's non-believers who are not doing this how would I explain it?

SPEAKER_01 1:18:54

I'm kind of playing it out in my head because I think it could also be saying, um, like just the way it's worded and stuff, uh, because it says then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. So I

Remaining In Love To Bear Fruit

SPEAKER_01 1:19:15

wonder if maybe it's not even speaking just about the family of Christ, because non-believers wouldn't just do those things for Christians. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:19:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:27

You know what I think we should do? I think, like you said, I um I think we are going to take this week to look over this passage before we say too much more on it.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:42

Yeah, and you guys what you think. Like, actually let us know. Comment, use the text us option, please. No one's done it yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:54

I want to see how yeah, we would love to hear opinions on this one. Um I think we're I think we're gonna seek some extra help on this passage this week. Uh for next week's episode, we'll try to we'll try to have a better understanding, and I think maybe we'll come back around and we'll touch on this a little bit before we go into the next fruit of the spirit. I think maybe that's not a bad idea.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:26

Sure. Yeah, maybe we can do like a uh um a little bit of a recap at the beginning of next episode and kind of talk about what we found. Um we'll talk to some of the spiritual leaders in our lives to see what they say about this. And uh yeah. And then share that with you guys, whether we find a fully fleshed out answer or not. We'll let you guys know what we find out.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:52

Yeah. So as of right now, we're not, you know what? It's actually kind of funny. Craig and I were just going over one of the other verses I had written down, and we're like, you know, this one's a bit complicated. So we were gonna maybe, you know, same thing, do some research on that before we shared it. And then we got to this one. So I think maybe God is asking us to look into this a little deeper. Um so we're not we're not gonna ignore this one. We're just um we're just gonna put it off till next week because again, we don't want to mislead anybody. Uh, and so we're gonna we're gonna do some research before we touch too much more on that one. Um I'll jump to this other verse I have. We'll we'll see if uh I got three in a row that are happy.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:42

What do you want to find out? Yeah, these are all your seventeen.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:58

And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost coin. In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of an aim of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Oh, I'm in Luke. Oh man.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:19

I was yeah, I was following along and on, and I'm like, that's not what that says.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:25

Nope. Nope. That's a good one, though. For those of you listening, Luke is a good chapter, great chapter. Uh, just not where I was headed with that one.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:34

Okay, that was it. I read it. Hey, that that was a good verse. Someone needs to hear that. Maybe I should just go back. It's fine. Don't catch it.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:49

Luke chapter uh 15, 9 to 17, guys. If you get the chance, read it. I don't know what it says off the top of my head, but I think it'll be good. Okay. John 15, 9 to 7. Here we go. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this,

How We Grow Kindness Daily

SPEAKER_01 1:23:20

so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. My command is this love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friend. You are my friends, if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because I ser a servant does not know his master's busyness. Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you, so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command. Love each other. Right, so I think this is calling us to remain in God's love. If if we are Christians, we're to have the love of God in us, and because of, like Craig said earlier, you know, everything is really pointing back to that first fruit of the spirit love, and everything I think trickles out from that. So because of the fact that we are supposed to live out love in Christ, um, we should have kindness that flows from that. And the reason that's important is because as Christians, I think that's just proof that we have the Holy Spirit in us. That's living proof that you know we have been changed because of Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross for our sins, and we stand out from what the world says we should be, but we fit in with what Jesus said we should be, and so I think that's why it's important. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:08

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, all right. The third and final question is how do we get kindness? And the verses I have here we've already talked about, so I'll just kinda mention the things in them that I have talking points for. So Galatians 5.22 kindness is a fruit of the spirit. Um, it's not uh not from our willpower, so it comes from the spirit. Uh Ephesians 4.32. Uh forgive as Christ forgave you. Kindness begins with remembering his kindness to you. Uh the first talking point I have here is kindness starts with receiving God's kindness. You can't you can't give what you haven't personally received. Um, and meditating on God's patience, mercy, and forgiveness refills our tank. Um so on that, I've thought about this uh quite a bit, but uh yeah, we can't give what we don't have, right? And kindness comes from God, and um even well, I guess we talked about niceness, but people being nice, or even um what else was I gonna say? I don't know. We can't uh we can't love and we can't be kind um the way God loves and the way God is kind if we don't first receive it from Him. So uh even in the world you yeah, that's what I was trying to go. Even in the world you see people um uh acting kind or acting nice or um serving people, but um I don't think they can do it in the same way that we can if we if they're not in the Lord and the Lord is not in them.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:34

So if it's not through them, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:37

Another another verse that I just thought of now is uh like we can do nothing apart from him uh and all our good works are like filthy rags, right? I don't remember exactly where that's at, but people people think they can work uh you know uh workspace salvation, there's people that believe in that and and God says maybe I should just look it up.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:11

Uh so Isaiah sixty four six um and so ESV, uh we've all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like polluted garment or filthy rags.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:46

We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind take us away. Should actually go to that. I think there's more to that. Uh what did I say that was? Isaiah. I don't know. Maybe I was remembering that wrong, but it does say um we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like polluted garment. Uh we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind take us away. That's the let's see. NIV All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. What's the other part that I was thinking? Uh you can do Nothing apart from me.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:03

That's a different verse altogether, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 1:30:12

I yeah, I don't know if they am I mixing Bible verses. I might be. Is it a different verse? Uh let's see here. Where is it? I'm the vine, you're the branches, whoever abides in me and I in him. Uh he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing. So those are two different verses that I'm remembering together apparently. Um but anyway, even though they're two different verses, they're both true. So um yeah, uh that's interesting.

Serving First: The Way Of Jesus

SPEAKER_03 1:31:10

Okay. Oh, that's funny. Um moving on. Uh all right, uh, the second talking point I have is to slow down our reactions. So most unkindness is uh not premeditated, so I don't intend to be unkind to people. It's often reactive and in the moment, right? Um so if we practice uh pausing and uh just taking a moment and ask the spirit to lead us in those moments, which as I've mentioned in this episode already, I need to do more of pray before we speak and guard my tongue, yeah. Um and then choosing tone before truth um is also how we can uh gain more kindness. Uh so if we we just try to say things the the right way, even if we are right, like how can we say this in a way that is kind, um even even though you could say it harshly, and it is true, um sometimes you just need to bite your tongue or say it a different way, I think. Uh yeah, yeah. Uh and look for small small moments where you can show kindness. Uh helping a coworker, encouraging someone who's struggling, being gentle when correcting your kids.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:52

Um me asking your wife how can I support you today?

SPEAKER_03 1:32:59

Um, that's actually something too that I um like I said, I put these things in here uh because it's things that I struggle with, and uh I think sometimes I can be a lot I could be a lot more helpful to my wife and asking her what she needs from me rather than letting her do everything, and I think she would echo that. Uh and then uh having kindness to the unthankful. So if you remember when we read Luke 635, that says um I think that was the one where he is kind to the wicked or something like that. I'll just pull it up again. Luke six thirty-five, yeah. Uh but love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. So we need to also be kind to people that are maybe ungrateful or evil towards us, even that's pretty pretty harsh, but that's what it says. Um, I think also kindness is the most powerful when it's less or least deserved. Um, if you think back of any time when people are kind to you, or even even if I think back to moments when I'm kind to someone and they are you know, they're just being rude to me or whatever, and you just well, you know, the saying, kill them with kindness, right? Yeah. Like when when we were in school, or at least when I was in school, um people would say, Well, you know, just be kind to them and and they'll stop bullying you, basically, because that it's no fun anymore. You know, and uh I think that's true. So if there's there's people that are harsh in your life or or rude or whatever, just be kind to them. And I think it would diffuse I think it often diffuses the situation where we don't give it enough credit and don't utilize kindness enough in those situations.

SPEAKER_02 1:35:37

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:35:40

Uh so some reflection questions for us for this is uh ask God where He's calling you to be or to show kindness that might cost you something, and uh and then this is kind of might be a dangerous one, but what hard truth do you need to deliver to somebody? And how can you do it with gentleness and grace? Um don't go looking for people to call out, but um, I'm sure there's something going on in your life where you're like, hey, I need to confront this person or I need to address this situation. Um but yeah, think about how you're gonna do that and do it with gentleness, kindness, and grace.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:31

So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:33

And so that's how we can get kindness is through those things, I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:39

Yeah, I think that's really good. Um, I just had a couple verses to add to that that I will touch on briefly. Uh Philippians 2, 1 to 4, and I'll read the right passage this time. Okay. Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility value others above yourselves. Not look into your own interests, but each of you to the interest of the others. So I think in order to get kindness, you know, like I've been saying kind of throughout this episode, is uh put others before yourself, put others' um needs before yourself, others' interests before yourself, and uh be like-minded, um, like Christ. Right? The more we can be like Christ, the more we're gonna be able to obtain that kindness and uh and show that kindness. Uh, and then the last verse I have for this section is Matthew 20, verse 25 to 28. Sorry guys, I don't have bookmarks in my Bible this time. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could uh maybe know the Bible good enough to where I wouldn't have to bookmark it. So I think it's uh actually working not too bad this time, actually. Kinda definitely than mine, but well, I feel like I've been getting to know the Bible a lot better, which I I really appreciate about doing this podcast. We've had a lot of opportunity to flip through the pages and you know get to know where the books are and understand a little more, so it's been actually a huge blessing in that way. Uh okay, so Matthew 20, 25 to 28. And it says

Weekly Challenge, Requests, And Prayer

SPEAKER_01 1:39:02

Jesus called them together and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you, instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. So I think in order to again to get kindness, we need to have, I think, the heart of a servant. You know, we need to be willing to serve those around us, be willing to again put ourselves below the people that we're interacting with on a daily basis. And uh, you know, even as the last part of that verse says, and to give his life as a ransom for many, um, again, I think we need to just be able to be willing to surrender our lives for people who maybe aren't prepared for you know what comes after death. So that's kind of what I found, and and I think that's uh a big way that we can get kindness. Love it, and learn kindness, I guess.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:22

Learn kindness, get it. I thought about doing the same thing I did last week. How do we get kindness? We can't, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:35

That's right. Can't do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:37

No.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:39

Uh now sit just yeah, just don't even try, guys.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:45

They're Christ who strengthens me.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:48

That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:40:51

Uh all right. So I think that brings us to the end of what we've got for today. Um, so just to recap and close out, if you guys uh we'll do it too, but pick a person um this week that may not deserve your kindness and show it to them. Uh someone difficult, someone ungrateful or hostile um towards you, and uh intentionally do something for them or be kind to them at least. You don't want to like be like, here's a bouquet of flowers. Or I don't know. That might be kind of weird, but um, but yeah, just just show kindness to to some people that are difficult in your life. Um but again, like sometimes like I uh I struggle with that a little bit too, like when you're going through Bible study or something like that, and then at the end of it's like okay, it's like a checklist, like okay, go find this person, go find a person like this and do this. So, I mean, if it doesn't happen, that's fine, but um maybe pray that the Lord would reveal someone to you in your life that you could show some kindness to. Um, yeah, don't announce it, uh don't expect anything back. And so some closing notes. Kindness, I don't think is optional for us as Christian men. I think it's a mark of spiritual maturity, and it is a journey. So if you're struggling like I am, that's okay. Just uh like Colton said, recognizing that you're struggling is uh is the first step uh on trying to do better. So um believe and uh God leads you to repentance through kindness. Um yeah, let's go lead uh lead others to Christ in the same way with kindness. Um yeah, I don't know if you have any closing comments.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:09

No, the only thing I was gonna say is let's pray before we finish up here, and uh yeah, and then I think we'll don't forget to study that passage too, guys. Uh again, Matthew 25, 31 to 46. And please, if you have any um comments, uh send them our way because we're we're gonna do some studying, some research. So if you guys have opinions or comments on that, feel free to send them our way. We would love to hear your thoughts on this as we go through the week, and uh maybe you guys can pray with us about that, that we would find understanding and be able to bring that back on next week's episode.

SPEAKER_03 1:43:52

Yes, absolutely. And even if it's past that, if you guys are watching or watching, we'll get the video over eventually. But if uh if you're listening to this even farther down the line, I know there's some new people coming in, looks like, and kind of starting at the beginning. Um, from what our uh stats are saying, there's some people still you know listening at the beginning uh and then continuing on. So thankful for that. But also if if it's not necessarily on the week that this is released, still shoot us an SG.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:29

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, all right. Let's uh close in a word of prayer here.

SPEAKER_03 1:44:36

Let us do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:44:40

Thank you, Father, for this day, for the the time we can spend talking about your word, Lord, and we thank you for passages that we don't understand, and that cause us to dig into your word deeper uh for the understanding of what that passage is talking about. We pray as we seek the truth, Lord, and and seek you throughout this week, we ask that you would just walk alongside us, um, be with those who are listening to Lord and walk alongside them as uh as we go through this week, Lord, just bless us all, and we pray for just against a deeper understanding of this passage as we're trying to prepare it for next week and come up with an answer and just a better idea of what it's talking about, and so we pray um that Holy Spirit he would just speak through us and uh use us in this way to be able to bring the real meaning of of some of these passages and what they talk about. We pray you just bless this evening and um again bless us and the listeners who are listening in here as well. We just pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.

SPEAKER_03 1:46:01

Amen. Thank you for that. You guys uh you better have a good week. Um we'll have fun living in your ear holes, and uh not pressing the right buttons. All right, ciao. Have a great week, everybody.