Be Like Jesus- Kindness - Create Church

Pastor Ryan Binkley

7 Minute Read

I really feel most of the culture today is fighting a selfish battle because of their concern about the future. The world is going through great difficulty where we are seeing droughts, war, inflation, stock markets struggling, and it starts to make you ask the questions:

Where do we go from here?

Do we turn to the Church? We need to BE LIKE JESUS.

There should be something about a Christian’s life that causes you to shine. We are supposed to emanate a Christ-like image, so I want you to take a moment and ask yourself the question:

Does my life really emit the light and example of Jesus on earth?

I want to talk about a characteristic that I think we overlook about Jesus, and consequently we don’t emphasize it in our daily walk with God:

KINDNESS

It’s a virtue that too often is reduced to being “nice.” Kindness is the BRAVE act of being selfless, compassionate, and merciful to others. It doesn’t mean that you under-value yourself– you just value your others ahead of yourself for the demonstration of Christ to them.

Can you imagine…what if we all did this?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility, value others ahead of yourself.”

This is our challenge– we are now living in a season where our nation is the most polarized it’s ever been in history other than during the civil war. So how do you balance standing your ground against evil, and at the same time function with the fruit of kindness?

Jesus went about restoring, loving, healing, elevating and helping them see through the lens of love in a way that brings conviction to the heart of the people and not condemnation. He demonstrated this with the way he restored the woman at the well, the woman that was caught in the act of adultery, he did that with the tax collector, Zacchaeus and by washing the feet of the disciples. KINDNESS WAS HIS SUPERPOWER!

HOW TO SHOW THE KINDNESS OF JESUS:

1. SHOW KINDNESS THROUGH SERVING OTHERS.

I remember starting off in ministry. I had 2 models of what a great leader looks like: my pastor and my best friend. They were fiery preachers, both doing great things for God. So when they asked Ellie and I to come on staff to lead a ministry called the Master’s Commission, I jumped at the chance! We bought a large Ryder moving truck and had it equipped as a stage for evangelism. But during the first year, it seemed like the only thing I built was a moving company. Needless to say, we all learned how to serve. Going back to the words of Jesus: The first step of kindness is to serve others.

2. SHOW KINDNESS BY LOVING YOUR ENEMIES

So, let’s make this mission clear: Show kindness to anyone who doesn’t show kindness in return. By some measures, these people could be considered your enemies. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Try and see things from their perspective. Forgive the situation like it never happened.

What would happen if you stopped looking at people not just through the lens of race, gender, or how they mistreated you but started looking at people through the lens of love that Jesus sees them through?

3. SHOW KINDNESS TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY LEAST EXPECTED IT

Think about this – the Samaritan woman, the tax collector, the leper, and the thief on the cross: what do they all have in common? Jesus was trying to show people who would normally be rejected that he valued them! This was one of the paradoxical things about Jesus. He taught people good versus evil, but at the same time He was still kind to people who at the time disagreed with Him.

Kindness is very intentional.

Kindness is God’s superpower in relationships.

Kindness removes peoples blindness to God.

I’m passionate about you learning how to show kindness like Jesus did.

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the message, you can find it HERE. I look forward to seeing you all next week!