Galatians 5:22-23 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (NLT)

According to Google, kindness is the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

Living up to that definition might be hard for some of us. We are so guarded these days. Scared of being rejected. Or maybe we extend kindness with wrong motives like it’s an obligation (Phil 2:3). Maybe we’re looking for some sort of reciprocity.

I think that being kind has to be a choice until it develops as a true quality. Make the choice to practice kindness and see what happens.

We used to tell my son that practice makes perfect. Later, one of his piano teachers revised the adage saying perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing in the wrong way doesn’t produce the desired result. In those early days, he had to learn how to practice before we heard good results. Sixteen years later, my son is a working musician and planning his Master’s school audition. He chose to practice.

We can choose to practice kindness. Choose to put others first, even when they might not deserve it. Start with small things. Just smile. Choose to open a door for someone, to give up your seat or parking spot or place in the grocery store line for another.

Extending a kindness with a smile says it’s genuine, from the heart. When it starts to make you feel good, maybe that’s how we know the Holy Spirit is making progress.

Go to the Table of Contents to read more posts in this series as they go live.

It’s October so this must be time for 31 Days of Five Minute Friday Free-Writes. The event is hosted by Kate Motaung over at Five Minute Fridays. We write daily for five minutes, or maybe a bit longer. The point is to write. Kate provides writers with a one-word writing prompt each day. Today the prompt is SCARED.

Quotes from https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-quotes