Nov 9, 2025
Good Morning. It’s great to be here with you today. This morning as we gather here, I want to invite all of you to consider and reflect together on this word: Kindness.
What is Kindness? Kindness is one quality that we were taught since young to be. We were told to hold the door for others when we see people’s hands are full of groceries, we were taught to be nice to others in words and actions, and we were told to show compassion to those who are in need. Kindness seems to be something that we expect people to be, whether or not you are a follower of Jesus. A character that we teach our younger ones to build. “ Be kind to others”. However, what makes it interesting is that the kindness that the Bible talks about is referred to as the Fruit of the Spirit. Paul, in the book of Galatians, write the following:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
To called it a “fruit” means these are qualities and characteristics that emerge as a result of intentional care; and to call it “of the Spirit” means that these are qualities that come from the deep, transformative work of God in us through the Spirit.
So then what exactly is kindness?
Where better to start than a cartoon. Does anyone know what this cartoon is? This is the second most-streamed show in 2023 in the USA. So Bluey is a preschool TV series produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The whole series revolves around this six-year-old blue heeler puppy named Bluey and her interaction with her family, Bandit, Chilli and Bingo. Each episode is around 8 minutes long, and the show became popular among adults for the way it handles various topics about life. And with most pre-school TV shows, each episode comes with a lesson as they tell the story of Bluey in her family. And so, in Season 2 there's this episode called “Duck cake”, where it talks about Bluey wanting to help her dad make this really complicated “duck cake” for her sister’s birthday. But before she can help, Bandit, her dad, tells Bluey she needs to first put away and clean up all the toys, which Bluey insists she will only clean her side of the toys, not her sisters. And after much back and forth, and even with many incentives, Bluey only put away a small part of her toys, and again went into the kitchen wanting to do what seems to be more fun. And as she entered the kitchen, as Bandit was making the final touches on the cake, she saw the duck’s head slide and drop on the floor. Bandit felt defeated and sat on the floor. Bluey, seeing the sadness on Bandit’s face, decides to help her dad clean up the kitchen mess, and as she was cleaning, she noticed there was a sense of joy in her, and her tail starts to wig. The more she helps, the greater the joy she had, and so without her dad asking again, she went out and helped her sister pick up her toys. At the end of the episode, Bluey was filled with joy and asked, “How do animals with no tails know when they’re happy?”
What is kindness? Kindness as depicted by Bluey is about helping others, being helpful, considering the feelings of others, or sometimes it is what we would call doing nice things. And according to Bluey, the thing that motivates us to be kind to others is that it brings us joy, it makes us feel good. It doesnt just make someone’s day, but it also makes our day. And i think this is how kindness is commonly understood, being nice to others. And when we look up the meaning of kindness in the dictionary, this is also how kindness is commonly defined as friendly, generous, considerate, and thinking about others' feelings. Kindness is doing nice things for people.
But i think there’s more to it. The kind of Kindness that is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit, the kind of Kindness that reflects the character of God, the kind of kindness that doesn't come naturally to us, isn't just about being nice, being helpful or being generous. When we look to Scripture, we find that the whole idea of kindness, as described in the Bible, is centred and rooted around the Hebrew word Hesed. Hesed is one of those rich words that no single English word could fully capture and nuance its meaning. Hesed is sometimes translated as love, other times faithful love or loyalty, other times mercy, and other times compassion, and kindness. This word is used to describe who God is, and in Psalm 136, we hear the Psalmist repeatedly declare “for his mercy (hesed) endures forever.” The best way, i think, to get a feel of what Hesed is, is through a story. The story of Ruth and Boaz as found in the Book of Ruth chapter 2.
I am not sure how familiar all of you are with the story of Ruth. Essentially, the book follows the story of a widow called Ruth and her journey with her mother-in-law Naomi, who is also a widow, figuring out their new lives as widows. By the end of chapter 1, we were told that Ruth, although she could rightly leave Naomi, insisted on staying with her and travelled together to Bethlehem, where the barley harvest was. And as we come to Ruth 2, we are introduced to this new character called Boaz, who saw Ruth gleaning in the grain field. So Boaz asked his servant who Ruth was and was told about what she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, had gone through. Boaz was determined to show kindness (hesed) to Ruth.
And we get a glimpse of what this hesed kindness looks like in action, and when we come to verses 8-18,
First, Verse 8-9
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.
The Hesed kindness shown by Boaz includes Protection. Ruth being a Moabite widow gleaning in the grain field of Jerusalem puts her at risk. To begin with, Ruth being a foreign widow already puts her in a very vulnerable and disadvantageous position. She could be easily taken advantage by others, she has no rights and have no man to stand up for her if she was mistreated in the field, she could easily be rejected by the other Israelites women who were also gleaning in the fields because she was a foreigner, she could also be sent away by the servants and not allow her to glean and gather in a particular field, and because of her status, when she is thirsty, she has to go to the well, draw up the water and make sure everyone else have enough water first, before her drinking, hoping that there’s enough. But Boaz knows the situation of Ruth and was determined to show kindness by ensuring her safety. He granted her the right of gleaning by instructing her to stay in his field. He surrounded her with other Israelites women to protect her from being taken advantage of or interfered with by the young men. And he even made sure that Ruth was treated like one of his people, that she would have sufficient water to drink while gleaning, by letting her drink directly from the same source that all his workers drank from.
But there's more, Second, verse 14
And at mealtime, Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.
The Hesed kindness shown by Boaz also includes Privilege. Boaz welcomes Ruth, a foreign widow who was gleaning the leftovers, to sit at his table. We have to know that this is a huge privilege given to her. It is not expected that anyone would welcome her for a meal, after all she is an outsider trying to grab whatever is left for her own survival. But Boaz extended an invitation. This is not just a throwaway line that we sometimes say “do you want to grab lunch together” type of invitation, it is a gesture of welcoming her as one of his own people, to come, eat and share the same meal together on the same table, and to eat all the grains she wants until she is full. This kind of kindness demonstrated here dignifies her. She is seen and treated as a person.
But that’s not all, third, verse 15-16
When she rose to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. 16 And also pull out some from the bundles for her and leave it for her to glean, and do not rebuke her