Kindness is a Secret

Where does kindness come from? If you had to explain it to someone just learning the English language, what would you say? You can't hold it; you can just see evidence of it like when we "see" the wind. You can't smell it or taste it, but maybe you can feel it. You might use words like, "helping others, doing something nice, or encouraging someone." But really, kindness looks different to different people.

Last year, I was reading some student work on a wall at one of the schools I  visit. I don't remember if there was a picture or just the writing but it said, "Kindness is the best secret language." I wrote it down in my collection of things to write about someday thinking it was worth some thought, not really knowing what the student was thinking when they wrote it or if it was even original. But wherever it came  from, I think it tells us kindness is another language we can use to communicate with just like our learned oral language. Maybe the secrecy comes into play because it's not taught by textbooks. It's observed or modeled and it can be learned or ignored.

There are countless references to "kind" or "kindness" in the Bible. "Kind word cheers you up. Blessed is he who is kind to the needy, kind to the oppressed, he is kind to the ungrateful, love is kind, be kind and compassionate, to whom I can show God's kindness; understanding, patience, and kindness," and on and on. We read these verses and because we read them in God-breathed Scripture, we know they're true. It really isn't much of a secret at all. It's more of a command. It's what Jesus was all about and it's our goal to make modeling this "best secret language" not so secret any more.

Be blessed by the Lord and highly favored.
Barb