Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Kindness is free!

I have heard this sentence recently, and it was significant to me.  

Kindness should be one of the normal things we do in life. We are all sinners, but one of our normal instincts should be to be kind. Unfortunately, this is far from reality.  

Kindness is far from some people's minds as we treat our peers, parents, teachers, co-workers, and strangers unkindly. We live in a culture, in a world which has become more and more cut-throat.  It has become all about "me" and this is all which matters to so many people. We tend to think that life is all about us, who cares who we hurt to get what we desire.

In my life I have discovered that certain Christians can also be the meanest people out there.  Many are stuck on themselves, believing they are more holy than all others.  They live to take whatever they want from others, giving only emotional, and spiritual wounds back. Control and manipulation is their forte, and their selfish lives continue on as they live unkindly to all those with whom they interact.

Selfishness, meanness, cruelty is not what the LORD desires from us.  We are to be holy as He is holy.  Holiness means being set apart, sanctified for the LORD.  

So as Believers let's be set apart, holy, as God is holy.  We need to follow the LORD's ways in love as we live out our lives for Him, not living selfishly for ourselves as so many people do.

1 John 4:7-21

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; 
and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent 
His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live 
through Him.

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us 
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 

No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, 
God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. 

By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, 
because He has given us of His Spirit. 

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son 
to be the Savior of the world.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, 
God abides in him, and he in God. 

We have come to know and have believed the love 
which God has for us. God is love, and the one who 
abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 

By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have 
confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, 
so also are we in this world. 

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, 
because fear involves punishment, and the one 
who fears is not perfected in love. 

We love, because He first loved us. 

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, 
he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother 
whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 

And this commandment we have from Him, 
that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

We must be vigilant!  Do not put yourself up on a pedestal thinking you are the highway to holiness! Seek the LORD's face in His truth, humble yourself before our mighty God! 

Be humble, be kind.

Kindness is free!



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

One way to give kindness is to “think ahead”, as “What would I like to have happen to me in this situation?” Then do that to the other person.

Maggie Danesfahani said...

Thank you very much for this post. It has given me lots to think about. I am reading 1 John at the moment and your words helped shine some perspective on it's message.

The Piper's Wife said...

Thank you, Anonymous, and Maggie, for your comments.

Your idea, Anon., to "think ahead" is very good. Thank you for sharing!

Maggie, I understand having to think about this subject at length. When "real life" comes and we are to respond to those around us, we need to always evaluate ourselves first and the situations we find ourselves.

1 John is good to read and reread to help us in ourselves.

We can always work on our own inner person to change to become holy as He is holy, but we can not MAKE others choose rightly, behave rightly. Each person is in charge of themselves to choose rightly.

Now---This is where loving one another become "sticky". I have found that, in general, I can live a life of kindness and love to others, but sometimes we are in situations where the people we deal with are abusive to whatever degree. Now I must figure out how to be kind and loving without enabling them to abuse me more.

Praying for you in this--Jill