Joyce Meyer - Kindness (02/01/2026)
Today's message focuses on the fruit of kindness in the Spirit series, linked closely to mercy—being friendly, considerate, and forgiving instead of punishing those who wrong us. We know people by their fruit, not gifts, and God desires mercy over sacrifice. By receiving God's fresh mercy daily, we can clothe ourselves with kindness, show compassion like Jesus and Moses, and bless others, even enemies, to experience true rest and hope.
Why the Fruit of Kindness Matters More Than Gifts
Well, thank you for joining me today on "Enjoying Everyday Life". I'm gonna teach today on the fruit of the Spirit. I've been working on this series, and of course, there's nine of them, and so it takes a little while to get through all of them. But the fruit of the Spirit is so, so, so important because the Bible says you will know them by their fruit. Doesn't even say you'll know them by their gifts. It says you will know them by their fruit. And so, it's not what we say; it's what we do that makes a difference.
And so today, I'm gonna start by teaching on the fruit of kindness. What is kindness? Well, kindness is merciful, and merciful is kindness. They kind of really are closely linked. Matter of fact, I've got a definition here. It says, "While closely related, kindness and mercy are not exactly the same thing. Kindness generally refers to being friendly and considerate, while mercy often implies showing compassion or forgiveness, particularly to someone who has done wrong or is in a difficult situation. Mercy can be seen as a form of kindness with an added element of leniency or forgiveness when someone deserves punishment".
When somebody deserves punishment and instead of punishing them, we just forgive them. That's just what we all feel like doing, right? Somebody hurts us, the first thing we want to do is just forgive them. And at least that's the way I am. It's a good thing I'm not teaching on lying today. You know, there is... if you're walking in the flesh, there's always that "I'm gonna get you back" or "I'm gonna shut you out of my life". That's what I find. Sometimes you hurt me, and so I'm just not gonna let you back in again. Then you can't hurt me anymore.
The Difference Between Fleshly Reactions and God's Kindness
And I'm glad that I've learned God's way of doing things and not my own. Because when you hold grudges against people, it actually hurts you and probably doesn't bother them at all because they don't know that you're tormenting yourself while they're out having a good time. Kindness and mercy withholds punishment that is due and actually gives a blessing instead. Now, that takes it even another step further. "I might forgive my enemy, but please don't tell me I have to bless him also". Don't you love it when you've got something you really like and God tells you to give it away, and then he tells you to give it to somebody you're mad at? It's always a lot of fun.
How can God be so patient and long suffering? Because he's kind. I love Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief, ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls". Boy, I love this part. There was a time in my life, when I needed this so bad, I actually cut it out and carried it in my purse.
"For my yoke is wholesome (useful, good... not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing)". Not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing. Now, I grew up with a father that was very harsh. And I mean, even when he said "hello," he sounded mean. And so, I kinda took that on. And then, on top of being sexually abused by him and being around that harshness all the time, I had a harshness and a hardness about me. And sometimes people that have been hurt a lot, they will develop that as a means of thinking that that's how they're protecting themselves.
God's Mercy Renewed Every Morning
But you can't be in God's will and be harsh and hard and mean. He wants us to be merciful and kind to everyone. Can I hear? No, I wanna hear everyone. It's because of God's mercy that we can have hope. "His mercy is new every morning". I often say he makes a new batch every day because we used up all of yesterday's. I wonder if we have any idea how much mercy God has to give us in our lives and how quick we are to judge and criticize other people who do much less than we do but get God's mercy.
Lamentations 3:19-25: "[O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall". Doesn't sound like he was having a very good day. "My soul has them continually in remembrance and it is bowed down within me. But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation: It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because his [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is your stability and faithfulness".
What are you expecting from God? Are you expecting God to bless you? "Oh, no, I don't deserve that. I'm... I've been bad". Well, see, that's the whole point. God loves to bless you, especially when you've been bad. And that's hard for us to understand. I got a real revelation a couple of years ago about hope... or actually, waiting on God. You know, we see that word "wait on God," and we're told to "wait on God". And waiting on God actually means when you're waiting for him to do something.
Waiting Expectantly on God's Goodness
But it's waiting with an expectancy that God is gonna do something great in your life at any moment. And God wants us to be waiting, not passively. We may not be doing anything with our body or trying to make something happen. But inside we're very busy because we're expecting God to show up and do great things. And I just wonder how many things we miss because we're not expecting God to do something good for us because we don't think we deserve it. Let that settle for a minute. And that's the beauty of it. We don't deserve it. But God is a God who loves to be a blessing.
And so, it says, "The Lord is my portion, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in him and wait expectantly for him". The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for him. I've formed a habit over the last couple of years of every day I say, "I'm expecting something good to happen to me today. And I'm expecting something good to happen through me today". Boy, if you can just keep positive attitude, just be positive, and you'll have so much better days. In your thoughts, in your... just the thoughts within yourself that you're not even speaking out loud. Expect God to do great things. I mean, I always follow it up. "I know I don't deserve it, but you tell me to expect it. So, I'm going to".
1 Chronicles 16:34 says, "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; and his mercy endures forever". His mercy endures forever. Mercy is being offered, but many people won't receive mercy. And here's the problem. If you don't receive mercy, then you don't know how to give mercy, because you can't give away something that you don't have.
Receiving Mercy to Give Mercy to Others
And I... part of my journey of getting over being harsh and hard was I had to learn how to receive that mercy from God. And the more you receive it, the more tender your heart becomes. And then you wanna give that away to other people. Matthew 9:13 says, "Go and learn what this means. I desire mercy, not sacrifice". I came to that scripture many years ago, and God just kept leading me back there and leading me back there, and so it was kind of letting me know that I didn't really know what that meant. And he wanted me to know what it meant.
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice". Well, he desires us to receive mercy instead of trying to give him a sacrifice. Amen. And one of the ways that we try to sacrifice is by being miserable. You don't think you have a right to be happy or to be joyful. If we have a problem, we can't be happy till that problem is solved. But then also, instead of us requiring a sacrifice out of somebody who hurts us, he wants us to give them mercy. So, it works both ways. We can't give away what we don't have.
God pours his love out in our hearts so we can love other people. He gives us... he forgives us, so we forgive other people. He pours his mercy out upon us so we can be merciful to other people. When I was really trying to understand this, God gave me an example. Danny, at that time, was maybe 5, and now he's 45. So that's how long-ago God started dealing with me about this. I think I finally got it; I hope.
God's Mercy Like a Father's Love for His Child
And there was a bully in the neighborhood that just pestered him all the time. Just... he would steal his ball and throw it down the sewer and just anything to be mean. And we had... we kept our outside garage door open a lot when the kids were out. And they would come in and out the kitchen door. And Dave would often be sitting around the corner on the couch watching football or some other ball. But something that rolled... something that rolled or bounced, he was watching it. And sometimes, if this bully was after Danny, we would hear him coming in, "Daaaadddy"! screaming. And so, you kind of knew that something not so good was happening.
Now, let me back up for just a minute, to tell you the other part of this. Danny was not real great at doing his chores. He was good at making messes, but not real great at cleaning them up. And so, we had a list of things that he was responsible for, and we put 'em on the outside of his bedroom door. And he was supposed to, you know, take care of the dog, do that, take the trash out, whatever it was. And what the Lord showed me was when Danny comes screaming in that door for his daddy, you don't say, "Oh, sounds like Daniel's in trouble. Joyce, would you go down and check his list and see if he's got all of his check marks for the day? And if he does, I'll go out and help him. But if not, he's on his own".
Now see, we know that we wouldn't do that. There's no way we'd do that. And that was the way that God showed me that he gives us mercy. He doesn't check our list before he looks to see if he's gonna help us. He just gives us mercy because we belong to him. We're his kids. And we would deal with Danny later about the things he didn't do. So that doesn't mean God won't deal with us. But he's not trying to punish us into right behavior. He's trying to lead us and guide us into right behavior. So even though we make mistakes and do things wrong, he still comes back and teaches us, like a loving father, how to get it right. Always remember, you cannot give away what you don't have.
Clothing Ourselves with Kindness and Compassion
Colossians 3:12 says, "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience". It's interesting that that word, "clothe yourselves" or "put on," is used frequently in the Bible. "Put on Christ," "put on the new nature," "put off the old nature," "put on the full armor of God," "put on righteousness". Well, that requires some action on our part. So that means that if we're gonna be kind, we're gonna have to do it on purpose. And I believe that he loves it when we give people mercy.
Now, that doesn't mean that you don't correct people or that you don't... that you just let them walk all over you. But mercy is an inner attitude toward people. At least, the very least when somebody hurts you, the very least that we can do is pray for them. And probably if we prayed for people more than we judge and criticize them, we would have much more tender hearts than what we do. "As God's chosen people, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience".
I think sometimes about Jesus as he walked the earth and a couple of different individuals he dealt with, especially the man at the pool of Bethesda. He said to him, "How long have you been in this condition"? Look, Jesus knows everything; he already knew. But I think sometimes he would ask people questions about their condition, because the more you know about people, the more it builds compassion in your heart.
Examples of Kindness in the Bible: Moses and Joseph
You know, somebody can say, "Well, I don't feel very good". "Oh, that's too bad. I'll pray for you". But what if we just took two minutes and said, "Well, you know, what's wrong? Are you in pain somewhere? Or, you know, is there some way I can help you"? We need to be more compassionate toward one another instead of what? Selfish. God uses people who are meek, patient, and kind. Moses was patient and kind to the Israelites, even though they blamed him for all their trials and constantly murmured, complained, and found fault with everything that Moses did. Now, I don't know how he made it. I would have been done with those people before we made a half a mile.
But he... you know, he would pray for them. He offered to take their punishment and if God would give them mercy. And so, he had a real love and compassion in his heart for them. He was patient and kind. Moses was kind to Aaron and Miriam when they rose up against him with accusation and rebellion. This story's in Numbers 12:1-13. It says, "Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite". You know, it's amazing how much we like to tend to other people's business, isn't it? "Well, I don't like your wife. I think you made the wrong choice". We just care too much about other people's business. And when our own business is all messed up, we need to take care of that instead of trying to take care of somebody else's.
Dave and I, one time lived in a house, and a young, single man lived next door in this big house by himself. And Dave and I would say, sometimes, "I wonder why he lives in that big house by himself". And Dave said one day, "Well, maybe he bought it for an investment". And I started saying, "Well, if I were him, I would, you know, I would invest in thus and so..." and then I said, "You know, this is pretty good. We don't even know the guy's name, and we're planning his financial future". Miriam and Aaron were jealous of Moses. "'Has the Lord spoken only through Moses?' they asked. 'Hasn't he also spoken through us?' And the Lord heard them". That's a sobering thought. We need to realize that God hears everything we say.
Mercy Changes Hearts More Than Revenge
So, "I'm gonna tell you a secret, but don't tell anybody" doesn't go over with God. "Now, Moses was a very meek man..." and that means humble. So, he was very meek, "more humble than anybody else on the face of the earth". I guess that's how he managed to get as far as he did with those Israelites. Because a humble person recognizes their own faults, and that gives them the ability to be more merciful and gracious to other people.
"At once the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, 'Come out to the tent of meeting, all three of you.' So, the three of them went out. And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud; and he stood at the entrance to the tent and he summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, 'Now listen to my words: "Where there's a prophet among you, I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions. I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all of my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly, and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why, then, were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses"?'" "Why then, were you not afraid to talk about him in a judgmental or an unkind way"?
I think we still need a lot of revelation on how God feels about how we treat other people. 'Cause, you know, in Matthew 25, he was talking about helping the poor. And he said, "If you've done it unto the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto me". And so, I think that God takes it personally how we treat people. I don't know if you need this or not, but I did, so I'll preach to myself. "The anger of the Lord burned hot against them, and he left. And when the cloud lifted from the tent, Miriam's skin was leprous... it became as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease, and he said to Moses, 'Please, my lord, I ask you not to hold against us this sin that we have so foolishly committed.'"
So, she turns out to be a leper, and they go to Moses, and now they're sorry. You know, we're usually sorry after we get the results of our sin. And then... so watch what Moses does. "So, Moses cried out to the Lord, 'Please, God, heal her.'" And God did. So, see, it's beautiful. Mercy is... it's a beautiful thing. And I think that actually being good to somebody that has not treated you well is more likely to change them than being angry at them or trying to get them back.
Joseph was kind to his brothers who had been unkind to him. That's a very interesting story, too, when you think about what was done to Joseph. His brothers were jealous of him, and they sold him to slave traders. And he ended up spending years in prison for something that he didn't do. And, I mean, he had a pretty rough go. And I don't have time to tell you the whole story, but at the... at the end, he was in charge of all the food. And there was a famine in the land. And his brothers came to him, not knowing it was Joseph, to see about getting food. And when they did recognize him, they were afraid. And he said, "Brothers, why are you afraid? I'm not in the place of God. You intended to harm me. But God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives".
And so, even though we don't understand many times why we go through something difficult or why God would allow us to be in a place that is so painful. Most of the time, he's using that to train us for something that he wants to use us for in the future. So, remember to be kind and merciful to everybody, because nobody needs any more mercy than we do. Amen? Thank you for being with us today. May God bless you.