Choosing Real Kindness Over Mere Pleasantness in an Unkind World

Kindness in the post begins with the everyday marks people notice: polite speech, holding doors, showing up with food for a grieving family, and holding back unkind opinions. The author, Mike Leake, points to older television like The Andy Griffith Show as a picture of a world where kindness seems natural. Yet he warns that polite words and smiles can sometimes hide bitterness, becoming a kind of surface pleasantness that can still hurt people.

Leake argues that Paul’s call in Ephesians 4:32 to “be kind to one another” should not be read as mere politeness. He notes that the verses before it speak of bitterness, anger, slander, and malice, and he stresses that malice is the desire to harm another person. In his view, biblical kindness is not smiling while resenting someone, avoiding hard conversations, or ignoring sin and harm. It is not about keeping everyone comfortable. Instead, kindness seeks another person’s good, even when that person has not been good or kind in return.

The author observes that an unkind world makes even pleasantness stand out, and that this is a step forward but not the true standard. That standard, he says, is Christ, who died for us while we were still sinners and who worked for our greatest good when we were in rebellion. The post then turns to a prayer asking God to forgive the habit of settling for the appearance of kindness, to make the reader more like Christ, and to give wisdom for when kindness calls for a difficult conversation. It closes with reflection questions about hidden bitterness, what genuinely seeking another’s good would look like, and how Christ’s kindness should shape daily treatment of others.

Source: Read the original report