#35. We are Commanded to Show Kindness in Fellowship

Ephesians 4:32 — Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as

God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Paul commands believers to be kind to one another. Once again, this is not an option, and

once again, the command to us is to show the fruit of the Spirit of God in our fellowship.

Being kind to someone is nothing other than doing or seeking what is truly good for them.

As a spiritual fruit, we do this not because the recipients have merited it, or because we are

selfishly hoping to get something from them in return (as when the Pharisees did good

deeds so they could bask in the admiration of men). We do it because we are children of

God and we bear the family likeness when we behave in this way: Jesus was kind and good

to the undeserving and as we are made more like Him by the production in us of this fruit,

we will be kind as well.

We are seeing in this series that we need to take the fruit and gifts of the Spirit seriously.

We all have them, and we are all commanded by our Lord to put them into practice in the

church. This is what He wants of us - what He expects of us.

Since we must be together to be kind to one another, this command serves as an

encouragement for us to enjoy fellowship. But since the things we are commanded to be

and to do are things that Jesus is and does, when we are together in love and the fruits are

being used, Jesus is very present among us. That should mean that it is far from being a

burden to be obedient to these commands. Rather, it should be our great delight to

minister to one another the fruits and the gifts that God has blessed us with for that

purpose!

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