Proverbs 31 verses 25 through 31. The Bible says, Strength and honor are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed. her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her, in the gates. And the title of our message is going to come from verse number 26. She opened her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. And that's what we're going to preach on this morning, the law of kindness. Let's pray. Father, I love you. Thank you for this day. And Lord, I thank you for our church. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us now as we receive truth from your word. I pray that our hearts and minds would be open and ready to receive. I pray that, Holy Spirit, you would guide and you would speak to our hearts and convict us and challenge us where we need help today. Give each and every person what they need to hear from the youngest boy to the oldest person in the room. And Lord, I pray that you'd help us to live for you in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Thank you. You can be seated now. Kindness is an attribute that everyone should desire to have. It is not genetic, okay? No one in here is born kinder than other people, although it does seem like that, doesn't it? I mean, it is easier for some people to be kind than others, right? I mean, we can all agree with that. It is a decision. For Christian women, there is perhaps no chapter so famous as Proverbs 31. It describes the attributes of a virtuous woman. It is an essential quality for the virtuous woman to have. Not only that, everything she says is governed by this law. In her tongue is the law of Kindness all right, and you've heard all sorts of acronyms on we're talking about We're talking about family month this month, and so we're talking about communication We've been going through that we've given us principles of communication throughout the book of Proverbs. This is a specific principle It's more than just communication. It's action, but it also has to do with communication all right How many of you have met somebody that no matter what they say it is never nice? Okay, I have. I mean, I've worked with people like that. I mean, they never had anything good to say. They could get a raise. The boss could give them $500. That day and they'd be like, well, it should have been 650. All right. I mean, it's just, that's just their personality. They just, they have developed a habit of unkind, ungrateful, unthankfulness. All right. And they just are that way. The old joke is you're afraid. There's some people you're afraid to ask how they're doing because they might tell you, you know what I mean? And it's just, and you don't have time for that, but there are some people like that. They're just, they're just not kind. They're mean. They operate by that law there. You say, well, preacher, it's good for women to be kind. I'm glad the Bible tells us that. Well, I have news for all the men in here, okay? You're not exempt either, all right? There's another verse on kindness in our Bible. It's in Proverbs 19, verse number 22, and it says, the desire of a man is his kindness. And a poor man is better than a liar. Proverbs 19.22, the desire of a man is his kindness and a poor man is better than a liar. Interestingly enough, that's the only two times in the book of Proverbs the word kindness appears. And so there's one for women and there's one for men. And I think, looking around this room, everybody fits into one of those two categories, all right? So, amen, all right? Because that's how God made everybody. So, there aren't 37 genders, or 137, or 437, or... I mean, some of the things that people say nowadays is ridiculous, all right? But, I saw one recently, it was like, there are 137 genders. And I'm like, where do they even start with all that, you know? It's just... Anyway, people have lost their mind, amen? But you know what, folks? Truthfully, truthfully, we all are supposed to be kind. And here's what the Bible says about men. The desire of a man is his kindness, and a poor man is better than a liar. That word poor doesn't mean you don't have money. It means you lack ability, all right? And so here's what the Bible's trying to teach us. It would be better for you to desire to be kind and gracious and lack the means to help everyone than to have the means to help everyone and never do it. A classic example is Charles Dickens' famous story that comes out around Christmas time, right, about Ebenezer Scrooge. Here's a man who had all the means to help someone. But he didn't. Now I don't think the ghost of Christmas past and present and future are gonna haunt you and you're gonna suddenly wake up a changed man, alright? But Jesus Christ can do that for you, amen? And he can change you and he can make you whole. And he can make you new. But the desire of a man should be kindness. I'd much rather want to help everybody and not be able to help everybody than have the ability to help everybody and not help anybody. It'd be like me having a jumper. You know, I'd much rather want to give you a jump on a dead battery and not have cables in my car, than have cables in my car and drive off and leave you in the cold, all right? It's just, it's, it's, that's the desire is to be kind. I'll give you another illustration. This is completely off topic here. But I've met some guys in my life that are just I mean, they are just big Bulging masses of muscle and they are just like these. I mean these guys are Intimidating looking and they're the softest nicest kind of guy that I know and I've also met these scrawny little pipsqueak guys Who want to fight everybody? I don't know if it's because they're little. I'm not really sure what the deal is. But like, if that anger was in this guy, this guy would kill people, all right? I remember one time I used to work with one. I used to work with this guy. He grew up in inner city Miami. He was a football player. I mean, this guy was big. And I grew up with this guy who was about the same height as me and a little skinnier, but he just had a big mouth. And one day we were working and he picks a fight with this guy. to the point where he's wanting to fight him. He's not going to let this guy leave without fighting him. And I'm looking at this guy going, man, I may not be very smart, but I'd never pick a fight with this guy, all right? He just has to hit me once and I'm dead, OK? We literally, three of us, had to pick this guy up and drag him out of the room so he didn't go to blows with this guy. And it wasn't for this guy's sake, it was for his sake, alright? But he just didn't have that personality. And that's kind of what the Bible's conveying with the kindness there. There are some people, listen, they have the ability to be kind, they're just not. There's some people that have all the money to be in need of somebody, they just won't. And the Bible said it better be for you to be poor, it better be for you to lack and have not the ability to help everybody, and want to, than have the ability and not. Alright? You know what, may I add, if you have the ability to meet a need and the kindness to do it, you are one of the rarest people on earth. You are. There are people who are generous, not only financially, but also in their ability, they're just willing to help anybody. And you know what, that's a very rare person. Because there's a lot of people that could meet a need and don't, and there's a lot of people that want to meet a need and can't. And I'd much rather you be that way than the other way. We're all getting there with what the Bible's trying to say to us. And so we need to look at kindness. We should all have the desire to have quality of kindness in our lives. I know this is different for a Sunday morning message, all right? Normally I just get up and rip your face off, right? But we're going to be kind this morning, okay? So if you want to be mean, wait until next week, all right? We're going to say three things this morning and we're going to be done. What is, what is not kindness? All right. I had to try to figure out how to phrase that in a question. What is kindness? And then now the third question is how do we apply it? All right. Number one, kindness is not, kindness is not agreeing with everything everyone says. Some people in our world have got that backwards. I see these signs all over the place. In a world where you can be anything, be kind. Now they use that to say, I can do whatever I want and you should never say anything bad about me. That's not what the Bible is talking about. We don't have time to go to all these. You can write them down and look them up later. You could go to Joel 2.13. You would see the word kindness in Joel 2.13. Now, the interesting thing is, as you read the book of Joel, it's a letter to Israel. God is pronouncing judgment on them, the southern kingdom of Israel, and Joel tells them to rend their hearts and not their garments in Joel 2.13. Why? Because the Lord is full of kindness, and He is ready to receive them. He's ready to have them returned to Him. You know what? He could wipe us all out. But God's kind. God is kind. You know what amazes me? People talk about God's judgment and God's wrath, and all of those things are true. But what about God's love and God's mercy? What about God's patience? I mean, do you ever think about how patient God is with us? I mean, do you think God looks down from heaven? If God wears glasses, I don't think he does, alright, because he's perfect, right? But, I mean, if God wore glasses, I can see him just looking down at earth and going, man, what is going on down there? I mean, our world has gone crazy. Our world is nuts. I mean, there's wars, there's rumors of wars. It almost sounds like what the Bible talks about the last days where, I mean, folks, I mean, our world is just, I mean, every day there's new stories and it just, it almost, it's sad because nothing shocks me anymore. Like, I hear a story and I'm not really that, like, wow, this is, wow, this is, I can't believe, no. I mean, now I am in shock, but it doesn't, I mean, it just doesn't blow me away that somebody would do something dumb because people do it every day. I mean, our world has gone nuts. But you know what, listen, in a letter to Israel, God is pronouncing judgment on Judah. It's a prophecy of the coming destruction of Israel, and yet we see an attribute in that, in all of these Old Testament prophecies, we see these attributes that God is slow to anger, God is merciful, and God is kind. By the way, God is a refuge for them that trust in Him, right? And so even in all of this, God is willing. to shelter those who will put their trust in Him. Because God is kind. He could wipe us out and start all over. Instead, instead of doing that, He sent His only begotten Son to pay the price for our sins. He chose to redeem us. That's not only love, that's kindness. He didn't have to do that. So kindness isn't agreeing with everything someone does. Some people think, well, if I say something against somebody, I'm being unkind. Well, if it's true, it's true. And you know what? By the way, we're talking about topical in Sunday school. There are two topics. You have to understand other topics in order to understand a topic, all right? We're all on the same page if you were in Sunday school, all right? Nod your head. Okay, I'm a little worried about you, all right? Don't do to me what you did to Brother Young in Sunday school, all right? So answer, interact here a little bit, all right? But you know what? Two topics are grace and truth. You can't understand grace without truth, and you can't understand truth without grace. Because there's a lot of people that have truth, they're right, but they don't have grace, and they crush people. And there's a lot of people that have grace, but they don't have truth, and they compromise. Why? Because they just let everybody do whatever they want. And so grace and truth have to walk hand in hand. They have to balance each other out, otherwise it doesn't work, all right? And by the way, God is just as good as he is just, but he is just as just as he is good. Amen? So God's not just going to let you get away with stuff and say, I love you. There is punishment for everything that we do. We understand that, alright? It has to walk hand in hand. I don't really love my kids if all I ever do is give them grace and there's no truth. By the way, I don't ever love him if there's only truth and no grace. You've got to have both. You've got to have that balance. You've got to walk between them. The Bible talks about mercy and truth. In Micah 6, 8, we could go there to love mercy and to do justly and to walk humbly before your God. That's called balance. But folks, listen. Some people think, well, if I say something about someone, I'm not being kind. Well, you know what? I still should be kind to that person, but I can disagree with them. One day I was walking with a coworker and we were talking about something when I was working in Terre Haute at the Staples distribution there. And we were talking about something and he's like, well, I disagree with you. And I looked at him and I said, I smiled real big. And I said, well, you know what? Everybody has the right to be wrong. He goes, yeah. Wait, what? What did you say? Why? Because he does. And it's not gonna change how I treat him, but it doesn't make him right either. I'm not gonna sit there, okay, and just say everything you say is right, because you know what? What he was saying was we were talking about something spiritual, and it was against the Bible, and I'm like, look. I'm going to say this as kindly as I can. You're wrong. Okay. All right. Now, that doesn't make me unkind. I have to stand where this book stands. Amen. So kindness is number two, goes hand in hand with that, keeping silent about sin. You know, some people think if I say something about somebody that they're doing wrong, I'm not being kind, but it's not necessarily true. I can be kind to somebody without agreeing with everything that they do. I can love somebody without agreeing with everything that they do. This is the problem with much of modern-day preaching about salvation. There is a message that is missing. Brother Young said the word in Sunday school. The message is repentance that's missing from a lot of modern-day salvation. God loves you, and if you'll just accept Him, He'll accept you. Well, that's partly right. But why does God love you? Because you're a sinner and he's loved you more than your sin to send his son to die for your sin and to pay for your sin so that you could go to heaven if you will accept what Jesus Christ did on the cross for your sin. You can't go to heaven any other way. And that's what the Bible, when the Bible talks about Romans 10, 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, and shalt believe in thy heart, the God that raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That's exactly what that's talking about. April the 6th, 2008, James Young had been to church, James Young had done all these things, James Young had heard preaching, and I had made, I had prayed prayers, I had been baptized, I had done all of that stuff, and I was a reasonable kid as far as teenagers go, but I knew me, and I knew that I was a wicked sinner, alright? Every 14-year-old boy does. We all know we do bad stuff, alright? We all know we watch things we shouldn't, and think things we shouldn't, and act ways we shouldn't. And you know what? I'm sitting in church and I'm here and preaching, and that day the God, the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin, and I asked Him to save me, but there was repentance involved in that. And if it's not involved in the process, you can't get saved without realizing what you're saved from. What does it mean to be saved? It means you were rescued. And there's a lot of people that have never been rescued because nobody ever makes them lost. Hey, I got to make you lost before you can get found. You know, there's a lot of people that just say, well, if you just accept Jesus, why do you need to accept Him? Because you're a sinner on your way to hell. That's what the Bible teaches. And so kindness isn't keeping silent about sin. You know what, I'm thankful for preachers that don't keep silent about sin. I'm thankful for a preacher that on April 6, 2008, he got up and he reared back and he talked like this the whole time. He sounded like he had gravel in his throat, honestly, and he just looked at me. I mean, I felt like he was just staring at me. There's like 750 people in this church, and I felt like he was just looking at me. I was the Holy Spirit. He was convicting me. And that day there was something different than the time that I had said a prayer and not meant anything. That day there was something different than being baptized and not changing anything. Because repentance is a change of mind and it will produce a change in direction. You can't turn and walk, what are you going to do, walk backwards? Alright, I mean if I'm walking this way and I turn and I walk this way, I can't walk, I mean it's still not the right direction. And I'm not preaching a works-based salvation, but your works do validate the faith that you say you have. James 2 tells us that. Show me thy faith without thy works, I'll show thee my faith by my works. I know a lot of people that say they're a Christian, they have no idea what it means. And they certainly don't live like it, all right? My wife sent me a picture a couple years ago that said, God saw your Instagram post, or Santa saw your Instagram post, and you're getting clothes and a Bible for Christmas this year, all right? Because there's a lot of people, they say they're Christian, but they sure don't show it. You know what, folks? And we ought to live like it. Now, I know Santa Claus isn't real. Okay, I understand that, all right? So, I just figured that out last year. Okay, but anyway. I had somebody lecture me recently because one of my sons told a kid of theirs that Santa wasn't real. And she was like, I can't believe you let your kids, you teach your kids that Santa isn't real. And I'm like, I can't believe you teach them that they are real, all right? By the way, when they grow up, you know what they're going to think when they discover he isn't real? What else are mom and dad telling me that isn't true? It's no wonder a lot of people have left church and left the book. They wonder what else mom and dad's lied to them about. All right. We all okay this morning? All right. So Christmas is about a lot more than a big fat man in a white suit. Amen. Okay. Although if you can double as that, you can make a little money this Christmas. All right. So anyway. But you know folks, kindness isn't keeping silent about sin. Hey, you know what? Listen, if you will accept Jesus, if you will realize that you're a sinner and you will realize that you're on your way to hell and you deserve that and you will trust Him as your Savior, He will save you! Because He's kind. Because He doesn't have to, but He chooses to. And so that's what kindness is not. By the way, God told Isaiah in Isaiah 58-1 to cry aloud and spare not. You know what that means? Like I heard one preacher from the South say, let her rip, tater chip. All right. I don't know what that means. I'm still trying to figure it out. But hey, you know what? I think it's kind of what God was trying to tell Isaiah. Hey, just preach and don't worry about what anybody thinks. Just do what I told you to do. So you know what? By the way, you can be kind by doing it. You ought not be this mean, quiet, dispirited people walk around you, and they're like, you know, I've met some people like that. I'm a Christian. I'm happy about it. Like, well, really? And you know, they get up in church. Oh, say but I'm glad. I'm glad. Oh, say but I'm glad. They look like they have to sit next to their mother-in-law. I mean, that's how unhappy they are. I mean, that's how sad they look. I know I'm going to get some lectures after church about not hating on mother-in-laws. All right. But just know that I'm still being kind while I do it. OK. All right. But anyway. But, you know, here's what kindness is. All right. Let's do this. And we got about 15 minutes or so and I'll be done. Here's what kindness is. Number one, kindness in the Bible is doing favors for others. Flip your Bible, if you want to, to Genesis chapter 20, verse number 13. Genesis chapter 20, verse number 13. If you're a Bible student, this is what you'd call the law of first mention. This is your first time you see the word kindness in your Bible. Genesis 20, verse number 13. Water tastes good. Amen. Especially, I've been at Thanksgiving for two days with my four brothers. And we've just been yelling at each other because we've been playing games and stuff, you know. They have this new game called Pop Darts. You throw these little darts at a board. It's like cornhole. Man, that thing's so much fun. But, you know, whenever you win, you gotta yell and, you know, do your victory dance and rub it in your brother's face. Anyway, I'm a little hoarse after all that winning that I've done this past weekend. So, anyway. You know it's bad when one of your brothers says, we're in this game for girls, because he can't figure it out. Anyway, that's what guys say when they can't do something. They're like, oh, this is for sissy. And I'm like, uh-huh, you just can't do it. Just say it. Anyway, my voice is a little hoarse from that this morning. Genesis 20, 13, here's what Abraham says, Now we're not going to talk about the story and the stupidity of Abraham for asking his wife to call him her brother. That's not the point here. But here's what Abraham asked her to do. He said, this is the kindness I want you to do for me. I want you, when we go somewhere, to say that this is my brother. Now that got Abraham in trouble twice. But here Sarah still, still does what he asks. And you know what kindness is? It's doing favors for others. The first mention of kindness is having a desire to please others. Abraham had a desire to please, or Sarah had a desire to please Abraham. She did something even though she was probably thinking, this really isn't a good idea. It wasn't sinful, by the way, it just did end up getting him into trouble and he did it again. That's a dumb thing that I don't understand. But kindness is doing favors for others. By the way, it may not seem like a big deal to you, right? But kindness is doing things for others, doing favors for others, just showing them kindness just because. Hey, you know what, man? You ought to buy your wife flowers if she likes flowers. If she doesn't like flowers, you ought to not buy her flowers. Why? It's kind. It is. I know a girl I went to college with, she liked black roses. I'm like, who, what weirdo likes black roses? And you know what her boyfriend bought her? Black roses. Why? Cause she liked black roses. Now is it weird? Absolutely. All right. I'm glad my wife doesn't like black roses. All right. I'm glad my wife doesn't like roses. She just likes any old flowers that I buy her. At least that's what she says. But you know what? I know she likes them. So every now and then when I'm going through the store, pick up some flowers. Why? Because she likes them. By the way, if I don't buy her flowers, somebody else might, okay? I'll go beat him. So anyway, all right? And I'll be kind while I'm doing it, all right? I'll smile. But you know what, folks? Truthfully, we ought to be kind just because it's right to do. You know what? You know what we're talking about? Family month. You know, there's a lot of people, they can't remember the last kind thing somebody did for them. Yeah, we could go around this room. You know, we're not going to, obviously. When's the last time someone did something kind for you? When's the last time you did something kind for someone else? By the way, without expecting them to do something in return. Oftentimes we're kind to people, you know, we're willing to go, you know, like I go to, you know, Brother Mark's got a fancy new car he just drove in here, you know, and I'm like, hey, Brother Mark, I'll wash your car, all right, if I can have a ride, you know, I mean, that's not, hey, that's, that's not kindness. That's me hoping I can get a joy ride and see if that thing can go 150, all right. I asked him how fast he went, and he said, I'm not telling you, all right? So I told him the fastest I've ever gone. Anyway, I got pulled over one night going 107. That was not the fastest I've ever gone. That's the fastest I've ever got pulled over. That was a bad day, all right? Anyway, it's under the blood, all right? Thankful for that. That police officer was not very kind to me, though, anyway. Stuck his light in the window and said, do you realize I could take you to jail for how fast you're going? And I'm like, yes, sir. I was kind to him, all right? But you know what, folks? Listen, listen. Kindness is doing favors for others. Number two, we see another kindness. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 9 if you want to flip. If you don't want to, you can write it down there. If you're taking notes, 2 Samuel chapter 9. Is it okay if we use our Bibles a little bit in church? Alright. 2 Samuel chapter 9 verse number 1. And David said, Is there any yet that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" Alright, so here's the second definition of kindness we see. Kindness is showing mercy. Now David, if you understand the story here, David's king of Israel now. And Saul was the previous king of Israel. Saul's son was Jonathan. Jonathan was David's friend. And here they are, and David is now King David has all the power in the land. And he says, is there anybody left of the house of Jonathan that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Is there anybody left of the house of Saul? He goes even farther than that later on in the chapter. And they say, yeah, there's a boy. His name's Mephibosheth. He lives in a little tiny town called Lodi Bar, and I heard a preacher pronounce it that way, and it's stuck in my head that way, all right? So you can pronounce it any way you want. It's a little tiny town in the mountains east of the Sea of Galilee, all right? And it's just out in the middle of nowhere. It was a very poor area, a very destitute area. It means lack of—I think it means pastureless, actually, the word is. I mean, it was not an area you'd want to live in, all right? It was probably like when I lived in Lima, Ohio, We can compare that to Lodomar, all right? It's just not a desire. Nobody goes to Lima, Ohio on purpose to live, okay? I did, all right? I'm one of the few people, because I worked at a church there. But anyway, I mean, it's just a place where it's just, you're like, eh. Kind of nasty. All right. And here's this little boy who's crippled, living in Lodabar. And David says, I'm going to show him kindness. And David goes down, sends his servants, picks up this little boy, brings him to his table and says, you're going to sit at my table. You're going to eat my food. I'm going to take care of you just because I want to. We could preach a whole message on that. Because there's a king that did that for us, wasn't there? His name's Jesus. He didn't have to love any of us, but he did. He didn't have to die for any of us, but he did. He showed us kindness when we were a cripple and we were in want and we were in need. David said, he brought me out of the miry clay. He set my feet upon a rock. He established my goings. Amen. Psalm chapter 40. And that's what God did for me. But David showed mercy. Hey, aren't you glad somebody did that for us? But David showed mercy to Mephibosheth, that guy, all right? Amen. Thankful my name is James, praise the Lord. Mephibosheth. Although as the year gets on and on, people are starting to name their kids more like Bible names now, have you noticed that? I can't pronounce half the names people name their kids. I'm like, where did you get that? Anyway, I used to have a kid that rode my bus in Lima, Ohio, and his name was Noctis. I was like, where did you get that? And he told me, he's like, it's from a video game. And I'm like, that's what his dad told me. I'm like, OK, that's weird, first of all. But anyway, then he told me what video game. And I'm like, man, I've never even heard of that. He's like, yeah, it's a weird, obscure video game that only a few people play. And I'm like, and you named your kid from it? But anyway, all right. I just, you know, I don't understand that. But here's my fibisheth. Aren't you glad somebody did that for us? You know what? Here's the third thing about kindness. Kindness is an attribute of God. Kindness is an attribute of God. Nehemiah 9, 17 says, But thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. and forsookest them not." Nehemiah has given the nation of Israel a history lesson. And he's saying, listen, our fathers, remember Egypt? Remember the plagues and remember how He led them out? Remember how He made them cross the Red Sea? Remember all that? And through all of that, Nehemiah says, they stiffened their necks, they hardened their hearts, and they just refused to obey. Over and over and over again. And he said, through all of that, God forsookest them not. He never left them. Why? Because He's kind. He's kind. I think of that. You know what? I think if we're talking about giving, you know, you ever heard about giving somebody a second chance and stuff like that? I think I'm on about chance 48,000 or something like that with God. Why? Because I mess up all the time. I do wrong stuff all the time. I don't think all the right thoughts and I don't say all the right things and I don't do all the right things. And I'm thankful God still doesn't just say, oh, you're done. No, I'm not going to use you anymore. You know what? Because if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful God doesn't look at James Young and be like, oh, he messed up again. There he is. I'm done with him. Go on, use somebody else. By the way, He will do that, and that's a different message, all right? We understand that. There's a point where God says, I'm done. And by the way, there was a point with Israel where God said, I'm done. And it's not done forever, but it's done for now. It's coming back someday. Look at your Bible prophecy, all right? God loves Israel still. But you know what? At the same time, there was a point where he said, I'm going to the Gentiles, all right? Because you won't listen to me. Kindness is an attribute of God. Number four, kindness is random acts. Now that's something we're familiar with in our world today, right? A random act of kindness, right? Take your Bible, go to Acts chapter 28, verse number two. There's random acts of kindness in the Bible. Acts 28 to first person there. Read it out loud. Now you're like, I don't want to be the first person there. Preacher. All right. Acts 28 to and the barbarous people showed us no little kindness or they kindle the choir. So here's Paul, all right, the Apostle who wrote 13 books of our Bible, who was probably the greatest preacher ever to live, who has just been shipwrecked. All right, and they have swam to shore now to this little island called Melita. And there's a barbarous people, the Bible doesn't say who they are. And they see this group of Roman soldiers and prisoners, and they're all crawling to shore. It's cold, it's wet, it's raining. And they come out and they build them a fire. And they feed them. And they help them. They receive them. I don't think it says they fed them. I assume that they might have later. But it says, say, they kindled a fire and received us, everyone, because of the present rain and because of the cold. Now, what was that? It was an act of kindness. And I would call it a random act of kindness. Can you see this group of barbarous people, all right? I don't know what language, they probably didn't speak the same language. They just saw these guys dragging themselves out of the water, so they built a fire, because it was cold and it was rainy, and they just were kind. And Paul says they showed us no little kindness, all right? This was a big deal to them. By the way, something that may seem like a little deal to someone else may be a big deal to someone else. You know what? A small little word of kindness is great. It'll go a long way. Mark Twain used to say he could go a month on the strength of one compliment. And, you know, that's true. I mean, have you ever had somebody just say something to you and, man, you're just like, wow. You know what? Honestly, truthfully, I'm gonna be real honest with you. I don't care what most people think about me. But when my wife says something to me that's positive, I'm gonna charge hell with a squirt gun, all right? I mean, there's a lot I can do, all right? I could slam dunk almost. That's probably never gonna happen, all right? But truthfully, folks, listen, when the white person just says something kind to you, man, it's incredible, or does something kind for you. I can think of something. I remember a few years ago, I was preaching in a church, A guy walked up after church and he shook my hand and he said, hey, he goes, I know you don't get to do this very often, probably. And he's like, but I want you to just not. He goes, I know probably all the money that a church gives you for a love offering. You're going to spend on things you need. He's like, I just want to give you a gift so you can take your kids and do something. And he's like, I call it, he called it Twinkie money. That's what he called it. He's like, here's Twinkie money. I look down and there's $200 in my hand. I was like, that's a lot of Twinkies, all right? Now you understand anyway, all right? I'm moving on from that. But you know what? We took my kids and we did something we wouldn't normally do. We took them to the Rainforest Cafe. That was a crazy amount of money that I just spent to go to a restaurant and watch animals that are fake twirl, all right? But they still talk about it. You know what it was? It was somebody's random act of kindness. And by the way, I didn't feel right spending it on gas when he told me to spend it on something for my kids to do for fun. No, it wasn't. It was a random act of kindness. I remember one time I was really down, brother. It was probably one of the worst times of my life. I was homeless. I was living in my mom and dad's basement. I had gotten a job. I had had to leave that job on sudden notice. I paid for all of my expenses. And by the time it got done, I had $40. I was married, newly married. We had a child on the way. It was not exactly how I planned it to go. I walked into a church. Walked up, I was just, after church, was just talking. Nobody at this church knew that except for maybe my parents and maybe the preacher there. A random lady from the church walked over to me, she shook my hand, and she said, everything's gonna be okay. Now, I don't know if her and my mom talked. I don't know what happened. I don't think they did, because I know this woman, and I'm like, I don't even know who she is. I just knew her name. And when I looked down, there was $40 in my hand. She doubled my life worth right there. Now that was God, obviously. But it was God using somebody through a random act of kindness. That woman still probably doesn't have any clue how much that meant to me that day. I don't know that I could express what I felt that day accurately. Because it's a random act. So how do we apply kindness? We'll say that and we'll be done. How do we apply? We could go to other things. The Greek word there is philanthropia. It means kindness, love towards your fellow man. It also appears in Titus chapter 3. That's the only two times it appears in the Bible. But when is the last time you did something for someone without anything expected in return? That's the point. Number three, how do we apply this? I told you this was going to be a nice, kind message, alright? If it's going to be about kindness, it ought to be kind, amen? So, number three, kindness is a decision. Kindness is a decision. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse number 7 says, Now 2 Peter chapter 1 is what I call the add to your faith chapter, alright? You need to add some things to your faith. It's good to have faith, but you gotta add to it. Virtue, knowledge, and brotherly kindness, and godliness, and charity, and I think a couple other things, because I'm not quoting it, I just wrote down the one verse, all right? But 2 Peter 1, by the way, verse number 9 tells us if we don't add to our faith, eventually we'll get to the point where we have forgotten we were purged of our old sins. It doesn't mean you're not saved, it just means... I meet people like this. They get saved at a young age, they don't grow as a Christian, that's what we've been talking about, even though I took my sign down, all right? So I put my flag up. But you know what, folks? Listen, if we don't add to our faith, you'll get to the point where you don't remember that you're saved. If you get saved and don't go to church regularly, you're going to struggle with that your whole life. If you don't read your Bible, if you don't pray, if you don't grow, you're going to struggle with your assurance of your salvation your whole life. I meet people like that. I'll give them the gospel, and at the end they'll be like, oh yeah, 20 years to go in a church. I asked Jesus to save me. It's just been a long time, is what they'll say. And then they'll say, how do I know? And we'll go to this passage. But we need to add to our faith brotherly kindness. You know what adding is? It's a decision. Colossians 3.12 says, Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, and longsuffering. Alright? That phrase, put on. What does that mean? There you go. There's a live demonstration. Alright? Put on. How many of you wore a coat today? How many of you just accidentally put it on? I mean, you're just like, whoa, I have a coat on. I didn't even notice. No, you walked outside and you said, wow, it's cold out here. I need a coat. So you know what you did? You put it on. Some people say, well, I'm just not kind naturally. You're not. You've got to put it on. By the way, you're not merciful naturally. You've got to put it on. That's the new man Colossians 3 talks about. By the way, it says to put off the old man so that you can put off the new man. You can't be kind and bitter at the same time. You can't be kind and wrathful at the same time. You can't attack your spouse with sharp, biting words and then turn around and be kind to them at the same time. It doesn't work. Those are like offsetting penalties in football, alright? Nothing happens. You're an ungodly reprobate. I love you so much. You ever feel like that sometimes? We're talking about family month, all right? Let's just make it personal. Let's make it practical. You know what kindness is? It's a decision. You say, preacher, I'm not kind. Well, be kind on purpose. Sit down, write yourself a sticky note. Put it on your fridge, put it on your laptop, put it on your Bible, because that's what you read first thing in the morning. Amen. And then put it everywhere. Be kind. All right. We got a Bible verse. What do we say, Cooper? Be kind. Yeah. Why? Because it's intentional. Because guess what? Children aren't naturally kind. We were at somewhere the other day and a lady came up to me and she's like, hey, someone told me your son did something and I'm not sure that he did, but I had to correct him. I was like, he probably did. She just looked at me, you know, like she was trying so hard to, you know, not offend me because she's probably she owned a place here in town. All right, a place, this new little play cafe here in town. has a coffee shop and a playground, and she probably has to correct kids sometimes, and then she goes to the parent, and the parent's like, oh, my kid would never do that, you know? I've seen some parents level off on people because they think their kids are perfect. My kids aren't. They're sinners, all right? They are. They do not always, they have to learn. By the way, so do adults. Kindness isn't something you're just naturally good at. You say, preacher, well, I'm just not, I just don't understand what I've been through. All right, well, hey, listen, I may not understand this, but I do know how to put on a coat. And you can too. You say, I'm just not kind. Well, then be kind. Be intentional. Say something kind to someone. You say, preacher, well, there's nothing good about them. Find something good about them. You can. Just, you know, you just look at them and you're like, man, they look awful. Okay. Don't comment their appearance. All right. Find something else to comment on. I really like that green that goes with your eyes. All right. Yeah. I mean, Looks terrible. I mean, it's better, you know, than to say, I mean, it's better to walk up to somebody and be like, man, I absolutely hate your tie today. You know, I mean, that's not what I'm talking about. Folks, listen, listen, kindness is a decision. Number two, I want to say kindness is a command. Ephesians 4, 32, we just quoted it, and be kind one to another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. It's not optional. It's not just something, if I want to be kind today, I'll be kind. If I don't want to be kind today, I won't be kind. You ever met those people? They just have decided they are not going to be in a good mood. Ever. Not going to be a good mood today. I'm just going to have a bad mood and I will be in it all day. And guess what? You will be, all right? You will be. So decide, be intentional. 1 Corinthians 13, 4, charity suffereth long and is kind. You can't love people like you should and not be kind. It's impossible. Charity envieth not, it bontheth not itself up, is not puffed up. And we're closing with this illustration. David Ireland was a man who had a crippling neurological disease and was not given long to live. His wife was expecting a child and feeling he would miss out on many moments of that child's life, decided to write letters to his unborn child so that his future son or daughter might know that he loved them and what a wonderful mother that child had. And here's what he wrote in his book, Letters to an Unborn Child. He said, your mother is very special. Few men know what it is like to receive appreciation for taking their wives out to dinner when it entails what it does for us. It means that she has to dress me, shave me, brush my teeth, comb my hair, wheel me out of the house, down the steps, open the garage, open the car door, take the pedals off my wheelchair, stand me up, sit me on my seat, turn my legs in so I am comfortable, fold the wheelchair, put it in the car, go around to the driver's side, back the car up, shut the garage, and then drive me to the restaurant. When we get there, it starts all over again. She gets the wheelchair out, sits me in it, wheels me into the restaurant, finds a table, puts the pedals back so I can be more comfortable, and then has to feed me the entire time. When the meal is over, she pays the bill, pushes the wheelchair out to the car to begin the same routine again. When we get home and it's all over and finished, with great warmth, she'll look at me and say, Honey, thank you for taking me out to dinner. He says, I never really know quite how to answer. You know, that's someone who understands what kindness is. Do you?