Love @ Work Is Kind

Have you noticed how much the attributes of love in 1 Corinthians 13 overlap with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Turns out that’s really good news!

Good news why? Because I don’t know about you but I find it pretty hard to be patient, kind and all the rest. And because the fruit of the Spirit is what it says it is – not something I drum up by being extra-specially nice, but something that the Holy Spirit exhibits through me if I can only set my ego aside.

I am not by nature a kind person. Does that mean I don’t naturally love others. Actually in the way the New Testament uses the word, yes it probably does – but then that’s true for all of us. Jesus is the only truly, naturally, unconditionally kind person who ever lived. But by being filled with His Spirit, we can show that same kindness. Sometimes I catch myself thinking kind thoughts or doing kind things pretty much despite myself! And I thank God for having made His home in me!

So this kindness thing – how does it work at work? When I see other people around me – be they colleagues, employees, lawyers or investors – if I’m in tune with what the Holy Spirit is seeing, I see people with needs, including the need to be appreciated, to be helped, encouraged, comforted or simply listened to. More and more as I pray for them, I do see them as God does (to a very limited extent of course) and I see their needs and love them. Jesus was always doing that – seeing people’s needs and loving them. The rich young ruler, for example (Mark 10:21 says it explicitly), or the woman taken in adultery, or the Samaritan woman, or Levi. In each case he showed great kindness – understanding, being gentle even while in each case asking repentance of them.

Kindness doesn’t sweep bad things under the carpet, or hold back from speaking truth. On the contrary truth is an essential part of kindness. So when I give a performance review to an employee I try to speak truth with kindness. By praying for the person beforehand, seeking to understand why some things are not working too well, and seeing them in some way as God sees them, I find myself offering kindness and thus allowing them to hear what needs to be said. That’s just one example of course – opportunities for kindness abound in the workplace and I know I miss most of them. I just pray that I will become better at seeing them and being kind – ultimately this is an aspect of love that the world, and especially perhaps our workplace, desperately needs.

One last thought. There was a fad a few years ago for committing “random acts of kindness”. Nice though this was, we’re talking about something different I think. 1 Corinthians 13:4 speaks of kindness as an attribute of love, not something that can be randomly exhibited. Love defines a relationship much more than a casual encounter, and kindness is a part of that relationship. So may there be nothing random about your acts of kindness – instead may God’s love be evident!