Love is Kind

1 Corinthians 13:4, “Love suffers long and is kind…”

As I mentioned in my last article Love Suffers Long, we will be exploring the different aspects of love shown in 1 Corinthians 13. The focus throughout these verses will be on how Jesus has shown this love during His time on earth. I hope this will be a help to the reader in seeing these aspects of love in action. Instead of simply reading words on a paper, I hope these words can come to life in the example Jesus gives.

The next aspect of love Paul adds is that “love…is kind. Jesus was kind all throughout His ministry. The example I would like to look at it in the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21, John 6:1-14; Luke 9:10-17; Mark 6:30-44). He did not have to feed the 5,000+ of whom he had been teaching and healing, but He did. He also knew that those of whom He would feed did not care about Him, or even His teaching, they cared about the food and seeing miracles (we see this in John 6:26, 30). Yet, though knowing that, He was kind enough to feed them all.

We can say, “this isn’t love, it’s human decency,” but that isn’t true. Who of us would, after working all day, upon arriving home, feed 5000+ people? I am sure some of us would. What if you knew that these people did not care about you and what you had to say, but instead just cared about what you had to offer? Perhaps some would still say they would feed them all if they had the ability.  Okay, now imagine that you had just lost your best friend. He was murdered unjustly by a coward who just wanted to look good in front of his friends (Mark 6:14-29). Would you want to be around anybody, let alone 5,000+ people who did not care about you? I doubt anyone would still make the claim that this was merely an act of human decency. But if anyone is still holding on to hope that they would feed these people, now imagine those same people would one day play a role in your unjust murder? Is this still just an act of human decency? Certainly not! This is an incredible and unfathomable act of love!

After hearing the news that John the Baptist had been murdered, Jesus went to be alone. He was 100% man and 100% God (known as the hypostatic union) which means He felt the pain and heartache of losing a loved one just as much as any of us do. And yet, when 5,000+ people follow Him, instead of justly sending them away (which I don’t believe would have been a sin and therefore He could have done), He was “moved with compassion for them” (Matthew 14:14)! Then, after ministering and healing them, He decides not to send them away, but instead He feeds them. We wouldn’t want anyone around us, other than perhaps a friend or two to minister and encourage us if we had just heard our best friend had died, yet Jesus turned and ministered to and healed them!

Being kind is not easy. In this world, we see a lot of hatred, a lot of fighting, and a lot of selfishness, especially in the media, and, in my experience, in America. Our flesh wants to be the sole focus of everyone and everything. It is not natural for us to be kind to others, but it is something we ought to strive for. It is something we need to pursue. Of course, it is not something we are capable of and therefore we must be reliant on Christ to give us this supernatural love. This love that Jesus showed in the feeding of the 5,000 is a love we ought to replicate. A love of kindness and compassion. I believe this is the epitome of “love is kind.”

Follow us on Social Media!