Kindness Doesn’t Mean Nice

Devo written by Awaken Music Director, Zac Vaughn

Fruit Of The Spirit Series - Kindness

Since I was a kid, I’ve been told to “be kind”. Whether that be in school to my classmates or teachers, at home with my family, I’ve even been told to be kind to myself. Over my almost 30 years of living I’ve conflated the word “kind” with the word “nice”. Which, in practice, doesn’t pose much of an issue. As I’ve grown up, however, I’ve learned that someone could be nice and not kind, and is possible to be kind and not nice.

Paul tells us in Ephesians to “be kind” and kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word for “kind”, specifically in Ephesians 4:32, is chrēstǒs which is an adjective that means “useful in manners or morals”. To compare, “nice” isn’t found in the Bible. But nice in the Webster Dictionary is defined as “pleasing, agreeable, appropriate, or fitting”. 

Most of my life I’ve worked in classrooms, offices, or churches. A pair of nice shoes that are pleasing, or appropriate, might be highly polished really clean, new-looking shoes. But if you’ve ever worked outside, maybe on a construction site, what is “nice” may not always be useful.

I believe this is why Paul tells us to “be kind” not just nice. If we dig into it further, the Greek definition of the word “kindness” is specific to include the very nature of the person. It’s not just a face we can put on Sunday morning with a smile, it penetrates our entire being. That’s why it’s a fruit of the Spirit, we can’t truly be kind without Him!