In His kindness

…that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. - Ephesians 2v7

I have mentioned before that there are certain passages that are difficult to work through just because it seems like every single phrase, sometime every single word, is loaded in importance.

I don’t want to skip over the phrase in this verse that talks about being shown the huperballo riches of God’s grace. If I were to coin a phrase to fir here it might the ‘the above and beyondant’ riches of his grace. The riches of God’s grace go far beyond the mark. It is more than we can grasp and yet the prayer is that we might see His grace at work. Oh to see just a measure of these riches.

Yet, there is something else that intrigues me. I for one don’t often think of God’s ‘kindness.’ We think of His holiness, His love, His justice, and other ‘great’ attributes, but I don’t think we consider His kindness very often.

I like English and looking at English words. The word ‘kindness’ is from the word ‘kin.’ Kin refers to family and relatives. I don’t think we do the Greek word here any injustice by saying that this familiness extends to this aspect of God’s character.

I like the thought that God is kind to us. There may not be many ways that I can be like God, but I can be kind. And, by being kind I can manifest one of God’s traits.