“And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.”
Context: Kindness and tenderheartedness are placed directly against bitterness in the previous verse.
Bible Verses About Kindness
Kindness in Scripture is rarely grand. It is a tone of voice, a returned cloak, a meal, a refusal to crush someone who is already down.
It also describes God's own manner towards people, which is why it keeps appearing in lists of what faith looks like in practice.
Compiled and reviewed by the Verse & Light editorial team · last reviewed 2026-09-20 · Scripture quoted from the World English Bible
The passages
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Context: Listed as fruit that grows rather than a rule that is imposed.
““As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them.”
Context: The golden rule, given inside a passage about loving enemies.
“The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.”
Context: A proverb about the return effect of kindness and cruelty on the person practising them.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Context: A prophet's summary: justice, kindness and humility, offered instead of elaborate sacrifice.
“Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance;”
Context: Kindness described as clothing to put on deliberately each day.
Questions to sit with
- Who has been kind to you recently in a way you did not acknowledge?
- Where is kindness costing you something at the moment?
- What is one concrete kind act you could do before tonight?
A prayer
Original devotional writing by the Verse & Light editorial team — not part of the Bible text
God, make me kind in the small moments where nobody is watching, and especially where it is not deserved. Amen.
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