Kindness Starts with Caring
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS
Part of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit Reflections (to be continued on this page for the remainder)
Kindness Starts with Caring: Being tenderhearted and compassionate toward others. We must share kindness with our family and with other people. Encouraging words of comfort, courtesy, compliments, and even correction can be heartwarming acts of kindness.
We must take the opportunity to heal people from their emotional wounds rather than rub salt in those wounds. Our motive for doing this is never to impress people, but to share the love of God with them. “Your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for God is kind to the unthankful and the evil.” Luke 6:35.
Jesus Christ practiced kindness that was radical for that time and culture. He always had great concern for women as well as men, for children as well as adults, for other races as well as the Jewish race, and for the sick and weak as well as the strong. He often wore himself out praying for other people, feeding them (thousands) and helping them in other ways. Many times, he was moved with compassion (Mt. 9:36; 14:14; 18:27). We too should be helping, giving, and sharing, caring and encouraging, extending mercy, filled with compassion as we are able.
Fred Schaeffer, OFS
9/18/26
Based on: Deacon Joe DiMauro (1949-2022), “The Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life,” p. 66-68. This was published for St. Helen Parish, Charismatic Prayer Group, where he and I were members. Used with permission.
Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,
next - Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. /bro Fred
Generosity means doing good to and for others by loving them and putting ourselves at their service: our time, talents, and money, without recompense. Especially to strangers. To love is to give. When we give, we truly deny ourselves, as the Lord has requested. (See Mt. 25:40). It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35b).
Generosity is a fruit, and it is connected with gratitude. Gratitude leads to generosity! Generous Christ-followers are eternally grateful for what God has done. Generosity isn’t easy—not for the faint of heart. It will cost you time, energy, and money. It is even more difficult for those who have little to offer. Mother Teresa said: “If you give something that you can live without, it’s not giving.”
God can never be outdone in His generosity, and He doesn’t expect us to.
00001. Deacon Joe DiMauro (1949-2022), “The Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life,” p. 68-69. This was published for St. Helen Parish, Charismatic Prayer Group, where he and I were members. Used with permission.