Kindness has always been esteemed in the pages of Scripture. It is the fruit of God’s Spirit within. Those who follow Christ are to clothe themselves in kindness. And there is an inherent danger in forgetting kindness, especially the kindness of the Lord.

We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

Psalm 106:6-7

The Psalmist refers back to the generation that died in the wilderness. Though they witnessed God’s mighty acts of deliverance and mercy, they never inhabited the Promised Land. This happened because Israel forgot the Lord’s kindnesses. Even though the Red Sea was the locus of their redemption — God parting the water so Israel could cross over on dry ground — in their amnesia, it becomes the place of their rebellion.

This is an important truth. There is a rebellion that takes place when we forget kindness.