Where does kindness come from?
Nothing in the narrative of evolutionary biology can tell us why one human would act with compassion or thoughtfulness toward another. In a world where survival alone is supposed to be the highest goal, nothing disinterested happens. All human behaviors should only produce results for the one doing them.
Yet kindness exists. Parents nurture children, and not only to perpetuate their genetic line. Friends do “unnecessary” things for each other—providing emotional support in grief or loss or change. Even sworn enemies surprise us by laying down their weapons to offer comfort to the wounded.
The Bible tells us that all good things, including acts of kindness, grow from the kindness that began with God: “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
God’s enduring kindness toward each of us—for every human being is created in His image—flows from His heart of grace. “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39).
The grace of God moves every act of mercy and forgiveness. Receive that love. Then move the kindness forward.
And stay in grace. -Bill Knott
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Fully Identified (November 29, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Grace At The Gates (November 22, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: The End of Magic (November 15, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Can You Handle The Truth? (November 8, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: More Day To Dawn (November 1, 2019)
Wilona Karimabadi: Beyond Thoughts and Prayers, November 2019
Cliff's Edge: So Thankful For Seventh-day Adventist, November 2019
Michael Yonker: From Disappointment to the Advent, November 2019
Search The Obvious: Reunions, November 2019
Lael Caesar: Prophecy Again?, November 2019
Gerald Klingbeil: Lip-syncing for God, November 2019
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Cross Purposes (October 25, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Staying In The Race (October 18, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: A Circle of Forgiveness (October 11, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Is It Too Good To Be True? (October 4, 2019)
Marvene Thorpe-Baptiste: Light A Candle (October 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: When Everything Changes (September 27, 2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: Sustainability (September 20,2019)
Bill Knott's GraceNotes: When Politics Misleads Us (September 13, 2019)
Willie Oliver: Men? Victims of Domestic Violence? (Sept 2019)
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