There are lots of “ness” words that belong to the home. We listed a load of them in the post, LOVELY WORDS TO ADD TO YOUR VOCAB (check below if you missed it). In this post we talked about homeness, wombness, and femaleness. In yesterday’s post we talked about softness.
What about kindness? Proverbs 31:26 gives a description of the mother in the home: “In her tongue is the law of kindness.” Kindness personifies a woman. That’s a challenge, isn’t it? For when we resort to our fleshly ways, we lose the anointing of kindness. The Hebrew word is “chesed” which is one of the most wonderful revelations of God in the entire Bible. It’s closely related to “grace” in the New Testament. It’s God’s unfailing love even when we don’t deserve it. It reveals His mercy, forgiveness, loyalty, goodness, and kindness.
It’s more than kindness. Lovingkindness is a better word. It’s a kindness which involves two parties. It speaks of God’s covenant with Israel which is an everlasting covenant. His dealings with Israel show how He deals with us. Because of their waywardness and rebellion, God had to continually judge and punish His people. Because He is God, He cannot let go His justice and righteousness, and must execute judgment on sin. Eventually, He could not tolerate the evil of the Israelites any longer and scattered them to the four corners of the earth.
Nevertheless, God had made a covenant. He is lovingkindness (chesed). His lovingkindness will not let go. He will not wash His hands of Israel, nor of us. He judges, but never gives up. Rebellion cannot destroy His love. It is the essence of that lovely old hymn, “O love that will not let me go.”
After vomiting the Israelites out of the land because of their sin, God sent hundreds of promises through His prophets to tell them that He will one day bring them back to the land again. These prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes. We saw the miracle of Israel become a nation again on 14 May 1948 and now Jews are pouring back to the land from all over the world. This is God revealing Himself as chesed.
It is also related to the old English word “troth.” Have you heard this word before? At the end of their vows, the bridal couple says: “And thereto I give thee my troth." Our children used these original wedding vows on their wedding days. I was pleased that our eldest granddaughter also used the same vows. It was quite fun to hear her practicing to say "troth" on their wedding rehearsal night. It’s not an easy word to pronounce! It means that the couple confesses publicly that they will be faithful to their marriage covenant.
Because God is a God of lovingkindness and we are created in His image, He desires us to show forth this grace too.
Let’s practice being kind. Kind to our husband. Kind to our children. Kind to the people around us. Do you notice this Scriptures says that the virtuous woman reveals kindness through her tongue? Are your words kind? Did you speak kind and loving words to your husband today? Did you speak kind words to your children?
Let’s establish kindness in our homes today.
Love from Nancy Campbell