Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Galatians 5:22-23), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• Read Luke 6:27-36 and 14:12-14. Kindness is a facet of love as God defines it (“love is kind,” 1 Corinthians 13:4). God’s love is extraordinary because he is kind, not just to those who are kind to him, but to the ungrateful and the evil, to those who cannot repay his kindness. We have nothing to offer God—in fact, in our sin we are hostile to God—but he loves us and is kind to us anyway. Jesus is God’s kindness incarnate, come in the flesh to show God’s love to sinners. Do you believe that you need God’s kindness? Do you believe that he is kind to you, even though you don’t deserve it and cannot repay his kindness? Are you captivated by such kindness? Have you thanked and praised him for his kindness to you in Christ?

• “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4). God shows that he is for us by standing against our sin. He will not stand by and let us pursue life apart from him (which is death). In the kindness of his love, he confronts us, exposes our sin, and calls us to repentance. Can you think of a time when God has challenged you about your sin, and you felt he was being unkind? Why should you believe, instead, that it is his kindness to convict you of your sin and your need for Jesus? Is there an area in your life right now where you are aware that God, in his kindness, is leading you to repentance? Will you follow where he is leading?

• In Christ God is kind to us, and through the Spirit he invites us to extend his own kindness to others. How can you abide in Christ (John 15) in such a way that the Spirit grows the Fruit of his kindness in you? Are you tempted to show the counterfeit kindness (“niceness”) that abounds in the world, that is superficial and easy to show, that is most concerned with keeping others happy so that life goes easier for you? Why is it hard to show Christ’s selfless kindness to others? Think of the particular people in your home and in your church: what are some specific ways you can show kindness to each one?