(Read Part 1)

Jesus Showed Us What Kindness Looks Like in Muscle and Bone

Want to know what biblical kindness actually looks like? Watch Jesus.

He walks into the temple and sees it turned into a marketplace. Religious leaders are exploiting the poor, turning worship into profit. Does Jesus respond with “kindness”? Absolutely. He makes a whip out of cords and drives them all out.

“In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:14-17, NIV).

That’s not cruelty. That’s kindness—kindness to the poor being exploited, kindness to true worshipers being distracted, kindness even to the merchants who needed their sin exposed before it destroyed them. Jesus loved the Father’s house too much to let it be defiled. His zeal wasn’t anger for anger’s sake. It was holy fire burning for what’s right.

Then turn the page. Same Jesus. Different scene.

He’s tired. His disciples want Him to avoid Samaria because Jews and Samaritans hate each other. Jesus goes straight through it. He sits by a well at noon—the hottest part of the day—and waits. A Samaritan woman shows up. She’s an outcast even among outcasts. Five failed marriages. Living with a man who isn’t her husband. She comes to the well alone because the other women won’t associate with her.

Jesus asks her for water.

“The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water’” (John 4:9-10, NIV).

He doesn’t shame her. Doesn’t lecture her. Doesn’t avoid her because of her reputation. He engages her with dignity, offers her hope, and transforms her life in one conversation. That’s kindness—seeing someone the world has written off and saying, “You matter to God. Let me show you who He really is.”

Same Jesus who flipped tables is the same Jesus who sat with sinners. Both actions flowed from love. Both were kind.

Then comes the cross. Nails in His hands. Thorns crushing His skull. Lungs collapsing under His own weight. He looks down at the soldiers gambling for His clothes, the religious leaders mocking Him, the crowd cheering His death.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34, NIV).

That’s the kindness that changes everything. Jesus didn’t wait for an apology. Didn’t demand they understand what they’d done. He absorbed their violence, their hatred, their evil—and He forgave them while they were still doing it.

That’s your model. Strength that could call down legions of angels but chooses mercy instead. Power that could crush enemies but extends a hand to lift them up. Kindness isn’t weakness. It’s the hardest strength there is.

Most men can throw a punch. Few can absorb one and still love the man who threw it. That’s Christlike kindness. That’s what you’re called to.

The Science Behind Kindness

When you perform an act of kindness, your brain releases oxytocin—the “bonding hormone.” Oxytocin lowers cortisol, reduces blood pressure, and decreases inflammation throughout your body (Kok et al., 2013, Psychological Science). In other words, kindness is medicine. Every time you serve someone, encourage someone, or extend patience when you’d rather blow up, you’re literally healing your body from the inside out.

Research published in Psychosomatic Medicine shows that people who regularly engage in prosocial behavior have significantly lower levels of inflammatory markers like IL-6 and CRP (Schreier et al., 2013). These are the same markers linked to heart disease, diabetes, and chronic illness. Kindness isn’t just nice—it’s protective.

Studies on cardiovascular health reveal that individuals who consistently practice kindness have lower blood pressure, improved heart rate variability, and reduced risk of heart attack (Whillans et al., 2016, Health Psychology). Your heart—literally—functions better when you’re kind.

Kindness also triggers what researchers call the “helper’s high.” When you serve someone, your brain’s reward centers light up. Dopamine and serotonin flood your system, creating a sense of well-being and purpose (Post, 2005, International Journal of Behavioral Medicine). God wired you to feel good when you do good because He wants you to keep doing it.

Here’s the point: biblical commands aren’t arbitrary rules. They’re the operating manual for human flourishing. When Scripture tells you to be kind, it’s about aligning your life with the way God designed reality to function. Kindness heals you. Bitterness destroys you. The consequences aren’t negotiable.

God didn’t build you to carry constant anger, resentment, and stress. He built you to bear the light yoke of Christ—which includes the supernatural ability to love difficult people and forgive when it costs you. Your body thrives in that environment. It collapses outside of it.

Why You’re Struggling to Be Kind

Your Body Is Sabotaging Your Heart

You want to be patient with your kids. Instead, you yell over spilled milk. You want to speak gently to your wife. Instead, you snap when she asks you to take out the trash. What’s wrong with you?

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your body is sabotaging your intentions.

Sleep deprivation destroys your capacity for self-control. Getting less than seven hours per night impairs the prefrontal cortex—the part of your brain responsible for emotional regulation and impulse control (Yoo et al., 2007, Current Biology). When you’re running on five hours of broken sleep, your brain literally cannot choose patience over irritation.

Blood sugar crashes make you irritable and reactive. Skip breakfast, pound coffee, inhale fast food—your glucose swings wildly. Every crash floods your system with cortisol and adrenaline. Your body perceives the drop as a threat, and suddenly your son’s question feels like an attack.

Carrying 50+ extra pounds creates constant inflammation that crosses into your brain and affects mood and emotional stability. Trying to be kind with an inflamed brain is like trying to run a marathon with pneumonia.

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NIV).

Your body is the dwelling place of God’s Spirit. When you neglect it with poor sleep, garbage food, and zero activity, you limit the Spirit’s ability to produce His fruit through you. Kindness requires energy. Patience requires margin. Self-control requires a nervous system that isn’t constantly firing stress hormones.

Steward your body. Get seven to eight hours of sleep. Eat real food. Move daily. Your body isn’t separate from your spiritual life—it’s the instrument through which your spiritual life is expressed. Honor it, and you’ll be amazed how much kinder you become when your biology stops working against you.

Be sure to Visit tomorrow for Part 3

Tyer Inloes is a graduate of California State University, Northridge and a Certified Personal Trainer & Fitness Nutrition Specialist. He grew up as a “Chunky Christian.” To solve his personal weight problem, he turned to God and the Bible for help. His goal is now to help believers reach their full potential – both physically & spiritually by teaching us how the journey to a healthier body and a closer relationship with God go hand in hand. His mission is to help us transform our bodies into the temple God designed it to be, so that we can live our God given purpose. Tyler is married and has two children. When he is not training, he enjoys family, playing basketball with his son, or Disney Princess with his daughter. He also enjoys a well-deserved date night with his wife as much as possible. To find out more about Tyler please visit his website.

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