I sometimes use this headline analyzer to check my blog titles. A headline from a professional copywriter might score 30%-40%. A really great title might be 60% or even higher. But guess what happened when I checked “Kindness as a Way of Life”?

0.00%

Yes, that’s right, the headline analyzer says this headline is neutral:

Your headline either has no words that evoke emotional impact,
or the percentage of such words is so low as to be unlikely
to make any emotional impact.

Is kindness really that bland?

As part of a series on the fruit of the Spirit, please see below for what I wrote for Asian American Women on Leadership.

Random Acts of Kindness

Some say that Random Acts of Kindness Day started in Denver, Colorado in 1995, and by 2004, it had spread to New Zealand. Others say that the idea started in New Zealand, which is the only country in the world to have a national Random Acts of Kindness Day for the whole country. Still others trace the day’s history to California and a 1982 article by activist Anne Herbert: “Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Acts of Senseless Beauty.”

How fitting that the history of random acts of kindness should be so random! But clearly the world needs more kindness. From wars raging in many parts of the world to violence on city streets, from racial and other social injustice to playground taunts and rudeness at the grocery store, we could all use some relief.

We could all use a please and thank you at home and when we’re out and about. We could all use a won’t you have a seat when we’re on a crowded city bus. A friendly hello at church, a door opened for us when our arms are full of groceries, an offer of childcare from a friend, a compliment from a colleague. Such small acts can help build community and lift our spirits, both as we receive and extend kindness. I’m all for expanding acts of kindness.

Not-So-Random Acts of Kindness

But here’s the thing: when the Bible speaks of kindness, it doesn’t mean random acts of kindness as we might think of them today. In Galatians, kindness is part of the fruit of the Spirit:

love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
—Galatians 5:22-23

In Colossians, we are told:

as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
—Colossians 3:12

In Greek, the word translated here as kindness is chréstotés, a word that appears only three times in the New Testament, another seven times if you count all the variations—but even so, kindness is not a word that’s thrown around casually. It’s used quite sparingly.

Kindness as Excellence

While it’s translated as kindness, chréstotés is a word that describes excellence in all things. So a good cotton bedsheet might have a 200 thread count, but a luxury Egyptian cotton bedsheet might have a thread count two or three or more times higher—that’s chréstotés. Think of the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had or the best view from a mountain top—that’s excellence, that’s chréstotés. So kindness applies not only to individual acts of kindness, but to an excellent attitude, an excellent quality, an excellent way of life.

The book of Titus uses chréstotés to describe God’s saving action, for

when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.
—Titus 3:4-5

This was no random act of kindness, but part of the character and nature of God. Just as we say “God is love” (1 John 4:8), we might also say God is kindness. This is not random. By nature and by intention, God extends love and kindness to us.

If we practice random acts of kindness, well and good. May our acts of kindness multiply, build community, and lift our spirits. And let us also live according to the Spirit of God that we might live out the not-so-random fruit of kindness. May we be deliberately kind each day, may we nurture an excellent attitude toward others, and grow in kindness as a way of life.

Writing/Reflection Prompt: Does the word kindness evoke an emotional response for you? Or is it really that bland?