“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
— Luke 6:35
Be kind, like God, to the ungrateful and evil. What does this kindness entail. It comes from a Greek word meaning both kind and good. Only God is good all the time. Only He is so kind to desire good things for evil and ungrateful people.
So about what of this kindness did Jesus speak? What did He mean since we are incapable of doing good all the time, especially if the person has done evil to us?
The Greek word for kind is xrestos. It means to provide what is suitable. We might think the only thing suitable for that evil person is prison, but Jesus’ love sees beyond the evil a person does to who the person is as he/she was created to be.
Xrestos means more than suitable. It means useful and productive. Jesus offers kindness from His love that gives what a person needs to be a useful and productive member of society. He gives a person new life, no longer an outcast who was feared, but a needed and heeded necessary part of that society’s functioning.
Jesus, as the Son of God, thinks beyond this physical plane to the spiritual. The kindness Jesus extends to the evil and ungrateful person makes that person eternally useful. The person is an accepted and useful member in society and, with Jesus’ kindness coming from His love toward this person, the once-evil and ungrateful person receives and accepts Jesus’ lovingkindness, believes in Him, and is saved from his/her sins and old way of life. Jesus’ kindness comes from His love and goodness.
Jesus taught the people to be more than just helpful by giving bread or drink. He told His followers to be kind—giving the lovingkindness He put in them through His Spirit—even to the lowest, most feared, and most cast out. By this, not only may they become useful and productive members of society, they may come to see Jesus in your kindness. These once-evil people will be saved and have eternal life because we—His followers—looked beyond the evil and obeyed Jesus’ words and followed His example. These once-evil people become eternity bound, useful and productive in the scope of God’s eternity from now through beyond time. These feel and know God’s love, then share it.
Be kind to the evil and ungrateful. Before you were saved, you were not good, but evil and ungrateful, too. Be kind because Jesus says to do so. Be kind because the Spirit of Christ dwelling in you has put His love and goodness in you. You will grow and become more useful and productive to God and society. You will grow closer to God and be made more in Jesus’ image. Let the goodness of God shared to you channel through you to whomever Jesus leads you.
Remember what Jesus taught, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.”
