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Kind to God?


                Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

            We may as well keep going. Love is...kind. It has or shows a friendly, generous and considerate nature. It is affectionate and loving. It treats the other as one of our own. Those are the things the dictionary says. I have a problem with these definitions because it seems to me that kindness can hurt. It can do for someone else what they can and should do for themselves. It can lie in order to let someone feel good about being bad. True kindness requires wisdom and does not ignore justice.
            So, what do we do about being kind to God? If we love God, we must be kind to God. Kind to God? Does He need us to be kind to Him? He doesn't need doors opened for Him, He's already on the other side. And isn't He the one who is supposed ti be kind to us? He's all those omnis and I'm so incredibly limited. He's the Lord of the universe and I don't even control my own home. He has infinite riches and I... well, let's just say that there are people who make in an hour what I make in a year. If someone needs kindness, it's not God, it's I.
            That last paragraph contains at least two flaws that I find in my own thinking, and that I suspect are in the thinking of others. The first error is that kindness is something that flows from those who have to those who need. God doesn't need anything from anyone so why should we give to Him? The second error is related. Because we see kindness as something that goes from greater to lesser, we tend to think it's not reciprocal. God is supposed to be kind to us, but we are less able and therefore not expected to be kind to Him.  The reason these are flaws in our thinking is because we think of kindness in terms of the one to whom we are being kind. We are kind because they are less fortunate. We are kind because they can't _________. 
            The reality is that kindness isn't just about the recipient. It is about character. Kindness requires that we pay attention to others. That makes it a challenge for me, because my thoughts tend to be elsewhere most of the time. It requires that we give without requiring repayment. I think the best sort of kindness is the kindness that is so much a habit that we don't notice. It should be something we are, not something we commit. Kin

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