What does it mean that love is kind (1 Corinthians 13:4)?

(1) “Love has long patience.” The flesh is ever impatient, but love can suffer long and wait God's time. Fleshly endurance is soon exhausted; love does not wear out.

(2) Love “is kind”. The flesh, even if it waits, will often do so in a fretful and resentful spirit; but love, while waiting, can retain a kindly spirit of consideration for others.

Love's first distinction is "long-suffering;" its second, "kindness;" both one and the other being capital attributes of the Saviour-God. And if He is long-suffering to usward,8 we, whose calling is to imitate Him as His children, should in like manner both forbear one another in love,9 and be patient towards all.1 If the kindness of His saving love has already graced us with His righteousness in Christ,2 and is through Him to flow to us eternally,3 it should seem to us a little thing to be kind to one another; and to array ourselves becomingly, as the elect of God, should be our chiefest care.4

"Love does not envy," though jealousy is in its very nature.5 God, who is the source and final object of His own desires, working as He wills, can envy none. Nor can that love which has its origin and hope in Him. Love covets earnestly,6 but not for its own sake. It is jealous over those who are its care.7 But because it knows God, it can neither crave addition to His gift unspeakable which it already has in Christ, nor can it look angrily on any who in position may seem higher than itself; for in God's light only it sees light. As love is of God, so envy is distinctively of Satan. It was a prime element in the original transgression, and was the spring of Cain's deadly hatred to his brother. And when the appointed hour came for darkness to sit in judgment upon light, it was through envy that the enemy prevailed.8 In God's presence it can find no place, though it hovers often at the threshold of the sanctuary. Moses was meeker than his servant, because Moses spake with God, while Joshua only spake with Moses.9 When the disciples wrangled for supremacy, the Master's back was turned.1 In His presence emulation takes a downward course.

Next we come, not to a definition of love, but to its qualities as in this world, specified for our instruction. It is what Christ was here, active as well as suffering in love above evil. "Love is long-suffering, is kind; love is not emulous, is not vainglorious, is not puffed up, doth not behave unseemly, seeks not its own things, is not easily provoked, reckons not the evil, rejoices not over iniquity, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (Vers. 4-7.) Patience in the midst of trial is the first-mentioned attribute of love, which even shows positive kindness instead of harbouring a vindictive thought. Again, as it does not indulge in envy or jealousy of another, so there is no self-display (or, as some think, forwardness), nor the arrogance whence it springs. Hence indecorum, or rude behaviour, is incompatible with love, as it is marked by disinterestedness and slowness to anger, and by readiness to forget the wrong that is done.

Now we are to contemplate more closely the features that characterize love. First comes a very positive feature. It suffers long (or, has long patience) and is kind. Could anything surpass the long patience and kindness of God's dealings with rebellious man? No. Well, God is love. And in the measure in which we manifest the divine nature, we shall manifest long patience and kindness towards men generally, as well as towards our brethren.

This one positive feature is followed by negative features. Love is marked by the total absence of certain hideous deformities of character and behaviour, which are perfectly natural to us as men in the flesh. Paul strings them together. Here they are: (1) Envy of others: (2) Vaunting oneself, or vainglory, or as it has been translated, being "insolent and rash:" (3) Being puffed up or inflated with one's own importance: (4) Unseemly behaviour which follows hard on the heels of an inflated mind: (5) Self-seeking: (6) Touchiness, easily taking offence and provoked to anger: (7) Thinking evil, that is, quick to impute evil to others: (8) Rejoicing in iniquity, that is, glad to be able to point out iniquity in others, and to denounce it. The string that runs right through these eight things is, love of self.

From verse 4 we learn what love is, and what it is not. It suffers long and is kind; it does not envy, nor is it insolent or rash. Some of the beautiful traits of love have marked the saints throughout the different dispensations; we see the kindness of God in such as Joseph and David, unselfishness and meekness in Moses and Paul, patience and endurance in such as Job and the great cloud of witnesses mentioned at the close of Hebrews 11. But in Jesus every feature of love was found in perfection, and all were perfectly blended together and expressed in all His ways. Longsuffering and kindness mark God's dealings with men from the beginning; they are features of the divine nature to be manifested by all God's children.

To be kind, means to be good and to show goodness to others. It was the ‘kindness and love to man of our Saviour God’ that appeared in the person of Jesus Christ (Titus 3:4). It was the goodness (or, kindness — it is the same word) of God that once led us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). As imitators of God (Eph. 5:1) we should have the same attitude to our brothers and sisters. No matter whether they are in need or not, we should deal with them in a way that aims for their best interests.

Kindness is a characteristic of divine love (1 Cor. 13:4). It is gentle and charming (Prov. 19:22). ‘Bowels of compassion’ emphasise the deep inward feeling from which the action proceeds, whereas ‘kindness’ emphasises more the character and spirit of the individual carrying out the action. These qualities give confidence and build up relationships among the saints. They too strengthen the practical unity of the local assembly.

Kindness is a characteristic of divine love (1 Cor. 13:4). It is gentle and charming (Prov. 19:22). ‘Bowels of compassion’ emphasise the deep inward feeling from which the action proceeds whereas ‘kindness’ emphasises more the character and spirit of the individual carrying out the action. These qualities give confidence and build up relationships among the saints. They too strengthen the practical unity of the local assembly.

Oh, thank God in the Spirit's power we can show kindness to each other. Thank God for that; kindness is a wonderful Christian virtue. It is connected with all these different features, compassion, care and concern. If we want to indicate that we are concerned about someone, that we feel for them, then our kindness goes out towards them. And, thank God, it can be done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now every one of these characteristics in a Christian is an expression of the love of Christ. For instance, who had such bowels of compassion, such kindness, as Christ? See the story of the widow of Nain in Luke. He meets at the gate of the city a dead man being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she, a widow. It is a perfect picture of desolation. And what do we read? "When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not." We ought to have the same compassion for each other in like circumstances.