Kindness: Do Fries Come with That Shake?
- olinfregia
- Jun 11, 2022
- 7 min read

Kids can be mean and unforgiving sometimes. “Johnny hit me.” “So, I hit him back.” A kindergarten teacher noticed this as she watched them on the playground at recess. So, she resolved that for the good of the class, they needed a lesson in kindness. So, she told each child to bring to class a plastic bag and potatoes. She instructed them: “Put the name of your class mate who has done something bad to you on a potato. Use as many potatoes as you need. Then put the potatoes with the names on them in your plastic bag.” Some had one potato; two potatoes; three potatoes; four. Then, she said, “You are to carry your potato bags where ever you go for a week. As days passed by, the children complained. At the end of the week, it was show and tell time. The teacher asked, “Now kids, shake up your bags and tell the class about them?”
“Mine stinks.” “My bag got heavy.”
The teacher explained as she brought show and tell time to a close. “This is what happens when you don’t forgive you classmates for the bad things that they do to you. Carrying “I’m gonna get you back” stinks and gets heavier the longer you carry it.” The next week the playground at recess was a kinder place.
Grown-ups can learn a thing or two about kindness, too, because the world as demonstrated in the past few weeks, is no playground. It can be a very mean place. Where do we find the kindness we need in an unfriendly world? An equally important question is this: What comes with that kindness? As the kids like to say: Do fries come with that shake? Kindness does not stand alone. It comes with forgiveness because it is one of the nine qualities of the Fruit of the Spirit that God gifted his children on the Day of Pentecost when His Holy Spirit was poured out on His disciples in Acts 2. God expects the Body of Christ to live out the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in their Christian walk. You cannot have kindness without forgiveness because forgiveness is an expression of kindness to self as well as others.
We see this “forgiving kindness” in Ephesians 4:32 and played out in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18:21-35. As we continue our summer series: Got Fruit—it Does a Body Good, today’s show and tell will show us why forgiving kindness does the whole Body good.
First kindness does the Body good because it forgives deeply, no matter the debt. Second, kindness forgives truthfully, identifying counterfeit Christians unwilling to let go. A thirdly, kindness forgives completely, with consequences good for the whole Body of Christ—physical and spiritually.
First kindness does the Body good because it forgives deeply no matter how much the debt. We see the principle of forgiving kindness in Ephesians 4:32:
And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32
We see the quality of forgiveness kindness illustrated in the kindness of the king in the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant in Matthew 18 who, out of compassion, forgave an uncollectable debt. Jesus tells this story to Peter to show how God forgives us, not seven times seven, but seven times seventy—in a word, deeply. The story goes there was a king who had a servant that owed him 10,000 talents. Unable to pay it, the king threatened to sell the servant and his family to settle the debt. The servant begged for forgiveness. We see the king’s response in 27:
27 "And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. Matthew 18:26-27
The king, out of love, released the servant from the debt, because it was uncollectible. It was the kind thing to do. It is unkind to expect someone to pay an unpayable debt. God responds to us the same way. God was kind to release us from our debt to him through Christ, his son. Our debt to God was because of our sins. The only payment for our sins is a perfect sacrifice because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin” according to Hebrews 9:22. We are unable to produce this perfect sacrifice since all sin is the result of Adam’s fall from perfection in the Garden. We could not pay perfection from perfection lost. Our debt is an uncollectable debt. But as through one man—the first Adam—sin and imperfection entered the world, payment for sin is through the second Adam—Christ—who paid our debt on Calvary.
We have to let it go and forgive like the king.
Beulah Mae McDonald forgave. In 1981, in Mobile Alabama, Klansmen hung her son Michael in a tree and slit his throat. It was the last known lynching in America. She would never collect the life of her son from the Klan, but she could forgive. At the sentencing trial of the convicted Klansmen, Beulah asks to say a word. That word was: “I forgive you”. She let go.
Corey Ten Boon let go. This Dutch Christian Holocaust survivor saw her sister die in the German concentration camp at the hands of a cruel guard. She would never collect the life of her sister from the Germans, but she could forgive. Years later she would face that same guard responsible in part for her agony and the death of her sister. The loss of her sister was 10,000 talents of hurt. Like the king in the parable, like the King of Kings, she released the German out of compassion. To quote Boon:
God buries your sins at the bottom of the sea and posts a sign over the spot which says, "No fishing."

Church, what uncollectable debts of heartache and hurts have your incurred? Let it go. Even more, what debts have you own others? The sign is posted for that, too: No fishing.
“No Fishing” for the one who stole your innocence and for the innocence have you stolen? The sign is up.
“No Fishing” for the one who cheated you of time, talent, treasure, or even more so, for the ones you have you cheated? The sign is up.
“No Fishing” for the one who has been unfaithful, hurtful to you, or even more so, for the ones you have been unfaithful to, yes, even God? The sign is up: No Fishing.
The no fishing sign is the cross of Christ. It is the sign of the kindness of God who forgives the uncollectable debt of our sins we cannot pay. That is why kindness does the Body good. Be kind to one other, forgiving as Christ forgave you.
Second, Fruit of the Spirit kindness—forgiving kindness—does a body good because it forgives truthfully, identifying counterfeits in the Body. We see the counterfeit, insincere servant, in part two of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The forgiven servant who was just released from the debt he owed finds a fellow servant who owes him far less. That fellow servant is unable to pay. We see the first servant’s response in verse 29-30:
29 "So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will repay you.' 30 "He was unwilling however, but went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. Matthew 18:29-30
The true heart of the first servant was revealed when it was time to be kind. Proverbs 4:23 is true: Out of a man’s heart flow the issues of life. How you treat others is a reflection of your true heart and soul issues:
· If you have a hard time forgiving those who have cheated on you, make sure that cheating is not your issue.
· If you have a tough time forgiving a proud person, make sure that pride is not your thing.
· If you have a hard time forgiving those who lie, be on guard that truth is not an issue with you.
Who’s the real you? You can’t in one moment be on your face seeking God’s forgiveness, then the next moment telling someone seeking kindness to get out of your face. According to my math, that is two-faced. God is not two-faced when it comes to forgiveness according to Mark 11:26:
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. Mark 11:26
Church, because we have been extended kindness by God through forgiveness, we need to do the same. When we don’t, we grieve—make sad—the Holy Spirit—who gave us the gift of kindness as a fruit to give to others. And when the Spirit is sad, God is mad. There are consequences when God is mad with our counterfeit kindness which leads me to my third point.
Kindness does the body good because it forgives completely--physical and spiritual. We see that in the last part of the “show and tell” Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The other servants saw the counterfeit servant’s mistreatment of their fellow servant who owed less, but was treated worse. They told the king and the king responded. Look at verse 34,35:
And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 "So shall My heavenly Father also do to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." Matthew 18:34 - 35
In effect, Jesus through the character of the King, is saying: like the kids and the potato sack, “something” stinks when there is no forgiveness. And like the kids and the potato sack, the consequences will be heavy. Galatians 6:7 makes it clear: you reap what you sow. For the unforgiving servant it was jail time. Unforgiveness imprisons you.
On the positive side, if unforgiveness imprisons you, then, spiritually, forgiveness frees you when you sow kindness.
A forgiving kindness also has physical benefits. Research has shown forgiveness:
Lower blood pressure
Lower heart rate
Lower risk of alcohol or substance abuse
Conclusion
Church, “fries do come with that shake.” Forgiveness comes with kindness. Kindness forgives deeply, no matter how much the debt. Second, kindness forgives truthfully, identifying counterfeit Christians unwilling to let go. A thirdly, kindness forgives completely, not seven times seven, but seven times seventy for the whole Body of Christ—physical and spiritually.
So, class, it’s recess time. The Principal is peering out onto a playground that is no play. He will pick out the Church by their sacks, empty of potatoes, full of love. Will the world be able to pick you out the same?
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord, And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love.
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