Kindness Gene or Gift of Grace…That is The Question
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.Ezekiel 36:26
I hadn’t been listening to the television when the end of a news story caught my attention earlier this week. In fact, I was sure I must have been mistaken because I thought I had heard them say, “So if you know someone who is kind and compassionate, they might not be able to control themselves. It might be in their genes.” Seriously? But when I turned to the internet, I discovered I had heard correctly because I found numerous articles on the breaking story. One read “A Kindness Gene? Researchers Say Caring, Trustworthiness May Be in Our DNA”. Another read: “‘Kindness’ Gene So Powerful It Can Be Detected By Strangers in 20 Seconds”. Are they serious? Unfortunately, yes, they are!
First, I find it interesting that these scientists went looking for a “kindness” gene. My speculation is that there is just something so different about certain people they are burning to know what it is. Interestingly enough, what these hard-working scientists don’t know is that THEY can’t help their actions because they were naturally born a burning desire to seek and know God. They are not looking for a kindness gene – there is no such thing – they are looking for what makes these people different. And what makes these people different is…Well, I am getting ahead of myself. How can I be so audacious as to blatantly disagree with highly educated, very intelligent, and well-respected scientists who spent a great deal of time on their findings? Because I know for a fact that we are all born sinners, and by definition a sinner cannot be born with a kindness gene. We are not born with the capacity to be compassionate and caring. It is only when we receive God’s grace and are completely transformed that we are capable of giving grace. It is only when God – who knows every ugly detail about us – reaches out and says, “I love you and forgive you. All you have to do is accept my gift of grace to you” that we can truly understand the concept of love. We can barely wrap our little, human minds around such a concept! But the transformation is “so powerful strangers can detect it in 20 seconds”.
All we have to do is read about Saul/Paul in the New Testament. As a young soldier he was a brutal soldier whose goal was to seek out and kill Christians. He was feared by many. He held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen as he stood and watched the heinous act. He was, in short, not a man any of us would want to invite to dinner. After he had his experience on Road to Damascus and received God’s grace, he was totally transformed. He no longer traveled from city to city with murder on his mind but missions. He was no longer the one who inflicted pain but the one who received it. He carried the Word of God instead of weapons of destruction. After God extended him the ultimate gift of grace, he was able to share grace with others. He was able to live grace. He has been responsible for touching millions of lives not only through his spoken word but through his written words. His legacy of grace is still alive today.
So do you see what these scientists were really looking for? It is the grace of God – the grace of God that saves us, the grace of God that changes us, the grace of God that teaches us how to love and gives us the desire to share that with our fellow man. The grace of God that makes us so different people notice. It is something much more powerful than a gene. And I hope and pray they find it!
Lord, I pray for these people who are searching for you. They naturally know you are there. They have a burning desire to know you yet they are so lost. Please send someone to each one of them who can share your grace with them, Lord, that they may find you and experience your love and forgiveness. Lord, may they,too, have that which sets them apart so that others see a difference in them. But more importantly, Lord, may they find that relationship with you their hearts are seeking. Thank you, Lord, for showing us your grace when you forgive us. Thank you for giving us your grace daily so that we can share it with others. Thank you for your daily blessings of grace that we do not deserve! May we never lose that burning desire for a relationship with you. May we give you the glory and the honor and the praise forever by living out your grace for others to see. Amen.
Robin Kelley
I am just an ordinary middle-aged woman striving to make a difference one word at a time. . . no matter what hat I am wearing at the time.
