If faith is on one end of the continuum and godliness on the other, where do kindness and love fit in as virtues? This devotion considers the last of the virtues discussed in Second Peter.
Nuggets
- Love is to bubble out of us and shine on others in the same way that God’s glory filled the temple!
- Adams did qualify that this love is directed to other disciples, and Thompson also limited his directions to the church.
- God’s character of love triggers the thought (godliness), which triggers the act itself (righteousness).
- We are not using the world’s definition of love.
Devotions in the Christian Virtues series
As we close this series on virtues, we will be looking at kindness and love. In the last devotion, we learned that faith was on one end of the continuum and godliness on the other.
I kept thinking, “Well, where is kindness and love?”
Now, we just took a week to look at charity — or love. So, let’s dive in and see how kindness and love fits in the progression of virtues.
Let's Put It into Context
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love” (II Pet. 1: 5-7 CSB)
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines virtue as a “conformity to a standard of right” or “a particular moral excellence.” It is talking about how we conduct ourselves as we live our lives. Peter wrote this list of virtues as a progression, indicating there was growth associated with it.
Kindness is defined by the Holman Bible Dictionary as “the steadfast love that maintains relationships through gracious aid in times of need.” Also noted was, “When kindness is included in lists of human virtues, it can be understood as helpfulness to others prompted by an experience of God’s redemptive love.”
When I looked up charity for the What Is Charity? series, it was kind of a involved definition. I processed it like this:
- Love is a main theme of the New Testament.
- Charity (dearness, affection or high regard) is used to translate agape (God love).
- Today, we think of charity as acts of benevolence.
- What is meant is agape (love) flavored with benevolence.
Devotions in the What Is Charity? series
What Is the Difference Between Love and Kindness?
As we can see from the definitions, love and kindness are related. Kindness is defined as an element of love.
The biggest distinction I found was in Adams’ Brotherly Kindness. He wrote, “Charity hath a great latitude, and is like the heaven that covers all; brotherly kindness like the sun that shines upon the one half at once.”
The sun is just one element in the sky. There are clouds, birds, and planes.
But the sun is the biggest element. Without the sun, we would be in a world of hurt.
Williams believed the difference was in their scope. He felt kindness was more of a human emotion. Love, on the other hand, came more from God.
So, we can say there is a difference between love and kindness. However, there is a major connection. To simplify things here, we are going to say kindness is the way to express the love. I will probably just use love — unless I directly quote a resource.
Adams did qualify that this love is directed to other disciples. Thompson also limited his directions to the church, “a body of professed believers in Christ, associated under a covenant for mutual watchfulness and help in the Christian life, and for maintaining the ordinances of the gospel.”
Why Do We Need Love?
We were told by John that God is love (I Jn. 4: 8). Thomas likened His love to His glory. “It is love which, like the Shekinah that glorified the temple, alone glorifies the structure of a character built on faith, and consisting of virtue, temperance, etc., is an empty shrine till it glows there.”
Love is to bubble out of us and shine on others in the same way that God’s glory filled the temple! This comes out of faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, patience, and godliness. We don’t have the others, we really aren’t going to have to love — not true love, not God’s type of love.
Hear that loud and clear. We don’t have the godliness — we won’t have the love. Maclaren wrote, “There is only one thing that can conquer the selfishness which is the great enemy of this universal charity, and that is that the love of God poured into a man’s heart shall on its bright waves float out the self-regard which is central and deep almost as life itself.”
When we are at the end of the progression, we can live the lives to which God has called us. We have true godly character.
Thompson addressed equality. “This law of Christian brotherhood declared by our Lord, not only secures to each and every disciple the same rights and privileges in His kingdom; it forbids any relation between Christians which is inconsistent with their absolute equality before Him, and their fraternal love for each other.”
We have to remember the why we are loving others. We love them because they, like us, are children of God. That is an equalizer.
Maclaren did caution us. He noted, “The place which this brotherly kindness occupies in our series, may further teach us that it is a great mistake for good men to cultivate the gentler graces at the expense of the sterner and the stronger. Christian love is no mere feeble emotion, but a strong and mailed warrior, who beareth all things, and can do all things.”
It is a progression — and it won’t be a walk in the park. We need one step for the foundation of the next. Only as we go through the process of sanctification do we get to righteousness and godliness. Satan is going to try to derail us off the oath of sanctification any chance that he gets.
Get your equivalent of my Warrior Princess bracelet on!
Elements of Love
Adams said that love is a product of piety. The Holman Bible Dictionary says there are a couple of words/phrases used to translate piety.
- Fear of the Lord/reverence
- Righteousness/blameless
Okay, let’s put all of the building blocks together.
Godliness in the New Testament is equivalent to the Old Testament’s the fear of the Lord, which means reverence and love (What Does Fear of the Lord Mean?). Righteousness is the result of a solid relationship with God built by a sincere life of obedience to God’s laws and commandments (How Do Disciples Crave Righteousness?). Righteousness is the thought or behavior. Godliness is the cause of the thought or behavior.
To read a related devotion, click the appropriate button below.
Adams wrote that brotherly kindness helps moderate godliness. I know. I am still trying to wrap my head around that one. To me, godliness would moderate kindness since it is before kindness on the progression.
Let’s look at it another way. We are equating kindness and love. God’s character is love — it is who He is. That triggers the thought (godliness), which triggers the act itself (righteousness). So, Who God is — in fact — is controlling thoughts and behaviors.
That makes sense.
This love comes out of renovated, regenerated, and sanctified hearts. Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Sanctification is the process where, through obedience, our lives are changed, and we made righteous.
What Love Is Not
We have to be careful that we make sure we are clear on what love isn’t. First off, we are not using the world’s definition of love. We are commanded to “… Love one another as [Jesus has] loved [us]” (Jn. 15: 12 CSB).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Williams warns us that “Spiritual ties, whilst overriding, do not annul all natural bonds.” We still have ties to friends, family, fellow citizens, etc.
Thompson made a bold statement. He wrote, “Our very love for Christ forbids that we should love as brethren those who do not, above all errors and faults, clearly evince their love for Him.” I think I know what he was saying.
Yes, we are to love our neighbors (Mk. 12: 31) and our enemies (Mt. 5: 44). But even though we are all made in God’s image, we are not all children of God.
- “Stay away from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good get along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same?” (II Cor. 6: 14 CEV).
- “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (I Cor. 15: 33 ESV).
We have to watch with whom we associate. Yes, it says don’t ruin our morals. What are virtues? Moral excellence.
We have got to make sure we focus on God and be obedient to Him. Obedience means to hear and carry out the instructions that God gives us. We don’t let someone else talk us into lowering our moral standards.
Thompson has a lot of good reminders of what brotherly love does and does not require. Unfortunately, we don’t have room here to list them all. I strongly recommend that you check out his sermon at the link below.
Making the Connections
Hamer summed up the dilemma we may encounter. “Christianity, the religion of faith and love, is the law of the heavenly life, but it is sent to us here, and now, for the ordering of this earthly life.”
We are to focus on God, not this world. Our job is to proclaim the gospel and make disciples so that the whole earth can be united under God’s love. God’s love shining out through us is an effective witness to those with whom we come into contact.
Maclaren made a good comment. “It is just as much your duty to cherish brotherly love to all professing Christian people as it is to govern your own passions, or to do any of these other things that are enjoined upon us here.” Our relationship with Jesus is personal, but we were created to be witnesses.
I am thinking godliness is the end of the continuum, but kindness and love overarch the whole continuum. God as love is involved every step of the way.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
There should be a correlation — growing in dependence on God, growing in our love for our fellow men. I know. We think it’s just about us, don’t we?
Well, our salvation is personal. We can’t hook onto our parents’ salvation. We have to make the decision to admit our sins, believe on Jesus as our Savior and confess God as our Sovereign Lord on our own.
How Do We Apply This?
- We have to build relationships with those to whom we are going to witness.
- Pray for them.
- We have to frequently perform acts of love.
- Look for good in others, don’t just tear them down.
- We have to tame our pride and envy.
- Most of all, we need to make sure our relationship with God is where it is supposed to be.
Whether godliness is the end of the progression or love is, the focus has to be our growing to be more like God. We want the sanctification, so we get to righteousness.
Father God. We want to be like You. Show us how to love as You love. Let others see You in us. Amen.
What do you think?
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