“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, English Standard Version)
This daily devotional for women centers on that single verse from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, a short instruction that carries a lot of weight. It does not ask for kindness alone. It pairs kindness with a tender heart and a readiness to forgive, and it roots all three in how God has already treated us in Christ.
What This Verse Means
Ephesians 4:32 comes near the close of a passage where Paul lists behaviors to put away, bitterness, anger, slander, and behaviors to put on instead. Kindness sits at the top of that second list. The verse does not leave kindness floating on its own. It ties kindness to tenderheartedness, meaning a heart that stays soft rather than hardened by hurt, and to forgiveness, meaning a willingness to release what someone else owes you.
The measuring stick Paul gives is not a vague ideal of niceness. It is the forgiveness God already extended in Christ. That standard raises the bar. It also offers the only real fuel for kindness that lasts, because human kindness runs out fast when it depends on our own patience alone.
A related verse from Acts carries a similar spirit. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35, English Standard Version) Kindness, in this light, is less a feeling and more a direction: outward, toward someone else’s good, even when it costs something.
Living It Today
Most days do not ask for grand gestures of kindness. They ask for small ones, repeated. A patient tone with a tired coworker.
A gentler reply to a text that stung. Choosing not to say the sharp thing that would have felt satisfying for about five seconds.
Marriage is one place this verse gets tested often. Scripture describes marriage as something God joins together, saying “what God has joined together, let not man separate,” and within that bond, kindness is not optional during hard seasons. It is the opposite of contempt or meanness, and it is called for from both husband and wife, especially when patience is thin.
The same pattern holds outside marriage. Parenting, friendships, work relationships, even interactions with strangers all give daily chances to practice the kind of kindness Ephesians describes, the kind that stays tenderhearted instead of hardening into frustration, and that forgives instead of keeping score.
Reflection Questions
Where in your life today is it hardest to stay tenderhearted instead of guarded?
Is there someone you are holding something against, where forgiveness feels overdue?
What would it look like to give kindness today without expecting anything back?
A Prayer For Today
Lord, soften what has grown hard in me. Where I have kept a quiet record of wrongs, help me set it down. Give me a kind word for the people in front of me today, even the ones who are hard to be kind to.
Remind me that you were kind to me first, long before I deserved it, and let that kindness move through me into someone else’s day. Amen.
For more encouragement, read yesterday’s daily devotional for women, and see a related study on loving others from 1 John 4. These verses draw on kindness passages compiled by GotQuestions.org and on marriage teaching from Desiring God.
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