Let Us Be Kind

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 10, 1912

KINDNESS is an attribute of God. It is one of the fundamental principles of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is one of the first-fruits of the Holy Spirit. The world to-day needs the exercise of this grace. There is need for it in the church of God. It is needed in every home. We can see everywhere those who criticize and find fault. Impatient and hasty speaking is one of the great besetting sins of the children of God. How many homes have been wrecked, how many lives clouded, how many hearts grieved and saddened, by the exercise of a harsh, critical spirit wholly unbefitting the sacred profession of Christianity!

Says the apostle Paul, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” We can never hope to win others to Christ by criticism of their ways or methods or beliefs, but nothing can withstand the power of kindness. It is the love of God that leadeth to repentance, and that love manifested in our homes and in our relationship to our brethren and sisters and toward those who are without Christ, will prove a savor of life and blessing.