If you were listening last week, you'll perhaps remember that we were thinking about what Paul calls the fruit of the spirit.

In fact, the ninefold fruit of the spirit. And if you are with us all last week, you'll probably know Galatians 522 to 23 off by heart

by now. But just in case they're not quite in your memory banks, I'm going to quote the words again.

Here they are. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such things, there is no law.

Kindness is our theme today.

It follows patience.

And I think you can see how these three graces, patience, kindness and goodness, form the second of

three trilogies in Paul's list.

You can't be kind unless you're patient, can you?

In some circumstances, simply being patient with a difficult person is being kind to them.

Kindness is a beautiful thing. I think there's some evidence that it's related to the old word kind or kin, meaning your

relatives, people in your family. It means treating people as family.

Kindness often translates one of the greatest words in the Hebrew Bible, Chesed, what one of the Old Testament scholars translated as leal love, loyalty love.

It's just as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 4.

I think we should notice something here again that's both important and encouraging.

Kindness isn't something spectacular, is it?

This isn't about being on the big stage and being fond on by adoring fans as though you were some kind of celebrity.

But this is what really matters.

This is what the Holy Spirit most delights to produce in us,

not kudos, but kindness. Actually, it's what the Little Old Testament book of Ruth is all about,

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