The Apostle Paul writes to the church in Colossae these words of instruction:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12)

At this time of the year many people are considering various acts of kindness expressed to family, friends and their communities, and a desire to emulate our Saviour by bringing peace and good will to men.

Sadly though, for the rest of the year, our culture seems to delight in being rude to people and finding any opportunity to be unkind and to be abusive.  Kindness does not happen naturally in human relationships. Any parent will have noticed this when observing their children’s reaction to others, and asking the question: “where did that come from?”

A humorous illustration of unkindness is exemplified by the following: George Bernard Shaw once wrote a letter to Winston Churchill saying, “Enclosed are two tickets to the opening of my first play. Bring a friend — if you have one.” Churchill replied, “Dear Mr Shaw, unfortunately I’ll be unable to attend the opening night of your play due to a prior engagement. Please send me tickets for a second night — if you have one.”

Kindness is encouraged and exampled by our Lord Jesus and can become the means of opening the door to many situations.

Augustine of Hippo, is a well-known early church father.  Before Augustine’s salvation, friends encouraged him to go to Rome and then to go on to Milan to hear the Bishop of Milan, a man called Ambrose, who was then considered the greatest orator in the church.
When Augustine first went, he said that Ambrose’s preaching really didn’t impress him that much. In fact, he said if this was the best the church had to offer, the church didn’t have very many good orators.

However, he also said that Ambrose’s kindness to him was such that it overcame his lack of estimation of his preaching ability. It was Ambrose’s kindnesses to Augustine that led Augustine to listen to his preaching, and this in turn led to Augustine’s conversion to Christ.

His kindness had opened the door for the word of God to be received.  Let us be good news to others before we tell them the good news.  As God’s chosen ones, let us put on kindness to all we come in contact with. Not just at Christmas, but throughout the year.