Who is the kindest person you know? My bride Marcia comes to my mind. It seems if there is a hurt to be healed, a loneliness to be comforted, a joy to share, she is on the spot to the job. This little girl in Bolivia crawled up into Marcia’s lap during school lessons. What would you say she is thinking? What do you notice about the kind people in your life?

Have you noticed that people who are characterized by genuine kindness and goodness seem to have a beautiful life? The fruit of the spirit indicates we should demonstrate both kindness and goodness. They share a lot of the same qualities: both are selfless, both extend good to another, both are generally given without anything expected in turn.

I generally think of kindness as those things we DO that doesn’t expect anything in return that involve a personal and intimate touch. For example, you have probably heard of and perhaps participated in random (better yet REGULAR) acts of kindness. Maybe you paid for the fast food takeout of the person in the car before you, or the entrance ticket for a stranger in line behind you. Maybe you have wiped the snow and ice off a car in the parking lot when no one expected, or simply held the door open for an approaching stranger at the store.

Reaching out to a particular person in need may be more reflective of a kind nature whereas writing a check to support needy children may be an act of goodness. You see in this case goodness also acts, but it is generally motivated by standing up for what is right, for fighting a worthy cause, for being virtuous. Kindness often does good things but goodness often goes to a deeper level of solving injustices.

I remember Larry Thorson talking about “sandpaper people,” you know those people that naturally just rub you raw. He talked about the virtues of extending goodness to these people because sometimes God intends for them to smooth out some of your own rough edges. (And by the way, YOU are sandpaper people to some people, and so am I.) goodness would approach these people instead of always walking away, praying for (or WITH) them instead of gossiping about them. Goodness is about doing the right thing when no one is watching.

What happens when each day you strive toward doing good in an increasingly wicked world? You bring light to darkness. And THAT makes for a beautiful life!