I won’t approve of behaviors I believe are wrong, but I will strive to be kind to everyone. To publicly approve of behaviors that you sincerely believe are morally wrong is to be hypocritical.

Kindness isn’t approval of people’s beliefs or behaviors. It’s respect for their humanity. If we won’t see and respect the image of God in people who disagree with us and/or disapprove of our behavior, we won’t treat them very well.

When people open their hearts to one another and experience the common ground of their shared humanity, kindness becomes automatic. Their focus on disagreement fade away. Time spent finding common ground and working together toward worthy goals is more productive than time spent disagreeing.

The Bible says that love is kind. It never says that love is approving. The less we focus on the risen Jesus, the less power we have to show heart-felt love to those who disagree with us.

Kindness is part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Therefore unkindness isn’t.

Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith.” Try not to let your desire to be approving, take the keypad out of His hands. God’s love inspires people to love and obey God, not to do our own thing. Christ-followers:

Don’t let contemporary culture coerce your conscience into compromising your commitment to obey Christ. When Christ-followers listen to and obey the risen Jesus, with no regard for self-interest, protocol, or tradition, God’s reality becomes clear. When you learn how to be “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” you will never be the same. (2 Peter 1:21 NIV)