#wtsdevo kindness

Be Kind to One Another (#wtsdevo kindness)

Ephesians 4:32-5:1 – “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”  

Kindness has been a theme in my life recently. I’ve been learning to show kindness in new and creative ways. I’ve experienced kindness shown to me in ways that I never thought would happen or that I needed to experience. I’ve been learning that two major components of kindness are mercy and selflessness.

Kindness isn’t deserved. We didn’t deserved God’s great kindness of saving us and giving us everything we need for life and godliness, but He gave it to us anyway. That’s why Ephesians says that we should imitate God as it says we should be kind and tenderhearted to one another. None of us is deserving of kindness. So instead of holding it back, we should imitate God and lavish it freely on every single person we meet.

Let’s be kind even when it’s inconvenient to do so. Let’s be kind even if the person receiving it hurts us in return. Let’s be kind even when the other person doesn’t deserve it. And when they are easy to be kind to, let’s not take the kindness we have received for granted.  Let’s show each other the value that each person has by being kind to each person no matter what because God was kind to us no matter what.

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

Filling up that Empty Space (#wtsdevo kindness)

Once I heard someone saying that his inability felt like a huge gaping hole in his life that simply sat there, empty and breaking everything else good that was around him. He said that he wished that someone could fill that hole up so that he could heal.

It made me realize that most of us come across those situations in life where we feel like there’s something empty inside. And worst of all, it is eating us away slowly and steadily and we simply can’t do anything about it on our own and by our own strength. But in that situation, if someone chooses to help us and lift us up, everything changes. Our worries our gone. Our stresses no more and things feel like they are going to be okay after all. That’s because someone’s kindness filled the empty void that was in our life. It feels like we are whole again.

Kindness does more than meets the eye. It heals, it brings joy, it transforms lives and it makes us whole again. Sounds like Jesus doesn’t it? We were a wretched people, living life our own way and by our own terms. What we didn’t realize was that we were opening up wounds within ourselves and by the day, they got raw and inflamed. God didn’t have to save us but He saw our hurting hearts. He wanted us to be more. He wanted us to be the way He created us to be. And out of His sheer kindness and love for us, He sent us His Son. That chasm that once was between us and God was now filled by the incredible sacrifice that Christ made for us. His kindness saved us and here we are.

Remember that being kind to others is more than just helping someone. It is a lifestyle for us Christians and it is part of who we are and our identity. When we choose to be kind, we allow Christ to shine onto others through our lives. We may not realize it but every little act of kindness plays a part in changing the world.

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

Kindness Unaware (#wtsdevo kindness)

At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” - Mark 7:35-37

Commanding His followers to secrecy can be seen on more than one occasion in the Bible. It is clear that Christ wanted to make sure that His kindness towards others didn’t end up becoming a show for others to enjoy and gossip about.

And this makes me wonder as to how many times in my life has God intervened without me realizing it. I’m pretty sure it is more times than I can even imagine.

With Jesus acting and reacting the way He does around kindness, He commands us to do the same and asks us to avoid putting on a show when it comes to treating others with love, genuine concern and care.

Being kind to others is something that should come out of us by default especially with us being Christians. Being able to understand one another, help those in need and to be able to be that person who stands as a pillar of hope in times of hopelessness should be traits that shouldn’t hesitate to come out through our words, actions and interactions with others.

To be kind to expect something in return is most certainly not the way of Christ considering how sacrificial He was when it came to kindness and love. He gave up His all in order to ensure that our lives were elevated and lifted up closer to God. This should be us when it comes to our kindness towards others.

I can only image how many more smiles there would be if we realized that there was more and more of kindness coming from people around us in unexpected and secret ways. Maybe you and I can start.

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

Kindness over Condemnation (#wtsdevo kindness)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) -John 4:9

This is such a sweet parable. Not only was it taboo for a man to confront a woman back then, it was well known that Jews and Samaritans did not associate with one another. A double whammy. So when Jesus approached "the woman at the well" He was overstepping some major boundaries.

Unfortunately, there are still some people groups and locations that are considered off limits. Certain races aren't welcomed and certain social classes are thought to be best remaining separate. But there is one universal action that could open the door that leads to change. It could loosen the brick that drops the entire wall.

Kindness. And at its finest it's given undeservingly. This kind of action can't be mustered up from our will. Granted, we can be really, really nice. We can be compassionate. But kindness—this kindness only comes through the very Spirit of God.

It's nothing different from the grace He gives us or His eagerness to give us good things. At the very least, He is kind to give us a roadmap with all the directions and detours to avoid destruction. See, kindness meets a need. It bridges the gap. So we offer it freely as it is offered to us.

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

The Source of Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

“For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” -  Luke 6:45

            This devotion series on kindness has really helped me to take an honest look at myself, at my words and how they reflect the state of my own heart. Often, when I find kindness lacking, the cause is that my heart is in a state of striving, a state of trying to figure out the circumstances of my life on my own and reason in my mind why things are happening the way they are. This constant strain wears me until I’m so stressed out and out of step with God that I finally snap at someone who never did a thing to deserve it and who, often, was trying to extend kindness to me in that moment.

           My mouth speaks what my heart is full of.

           When I dwell in that state of striving, my heart is completely tuned out to what God is speaking. I become distracted, pulled away from His Word, His Spirit and His Presence and truth. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), but how can I ever bear that fruit in my life when my heart is full of stress and anxiety and fear?

           Striving and the fruits of the Spirit can’t dwell in the same heart and I feel God challenging me on this. What needs to change in my life so that the fruits of the Spirit become both evident and dominant in my heart and in my words? What do you hear God telling you needs to change in yours so that your mouth speaks from a heart that is full of good fruit like kindness and peace?

           For me, it’s taking the next step of digging daily into God’s Word and letting truth really be planted in ways I have resisted before. It’s investing my time in prayer, not only letting my requests be made known to God, but also taking time to simply pause and listen to what He’s saying to me. I want kindness – the fruits of the Spirit – to be evident in my life, but I know my heart can’t get there on its own. I need God’s Word to spur me on and lift me up through the process and spending that time in His Word and prayer is the next best step I can personally take in being obedient to God.

           Your next steps might be different from mine – God is going to speak to us differently through this – but I love that there is a common thread connecting each of us in this: God is planting a desire in us to demonstrate kindness, to speak words that reflect a heart full of good fruit, and as that desire grows, He shows us that He has perfectly enabled us to have just such a heart, no striving required.

           “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

           “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

A Fruit of Wisdom (#wtsdevo kindness)

“And the wisdom from above, first, indeed, is pure, then peaceable, gentle, easily entreated, full of kindness and good fruits, uncontentious, and unhypocritical.”  James 3:17

The way we respond to the complexity and uncertainty of life and the people in it reveals everything about us. It’s in the way we handle relationships and how we treat others. It takes wisdom to make the appropriate response. Because even the most vast amount of knowledge hits the ceiling when it reaches the things of the Spirit.

Knowledge is mechanical. Wisdom is versatile and supernatural. Because if it comes from above then it comes right from the character of God. Our wisdom becomes His wisdom. And wisdom softens the hard heart that simply knows. It makes room for exceptions to rules and empathy toward deserved justice.

Wisdom puts everything through the lens of scripture and discerns it through the Holy Spirit. And kindness is an essential fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). The way we relate with people is tied directly how wisely we pursue relationships and encounter strangers. It takes wisdom to remember that the smelly man who is covered in dirt, with holes in his clothing, could possibly be an angel (Hebrews 13:2).

It takes wisdom to offer grace to the person who wronged you undeservingly and kindness to an enemy. Wisdom doesn’t yield a brash or harsh or cold or impatient temperament. Aren’t we glad that God deals wisely with us. He is as kind as He is wise and doesn’t let it go unnoticed when we exercise it, too (Luke 6:35).

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

Love Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?” -  Micah 6:8

 In the Old Testament book of Micah, the people of Israel are living a life displeasing to the Lord. Through Micah, He is calling them to remember the good things that the Lord had done for them and is calling them to repentance. In verses 6 and 7, Micah asks what kinds of things he could do for the Lord that would please Him.

 But then Micah answers his own question with verse 8 and says plainly: God has told you what He wants you to do. He wants you to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with Him. This is still true for us today – what the Lord wants from us is our very character to be transformed. He wants us to be just, to be humble, and to be kind.

 When we are saved, we are given the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Spirit helps to sanctify us and make us more like the people God wants us to be. When we are filled with Him, we bear more and more fruit. One of these fruits is kindness, too (Galatians 5:22). So how can we be just, humble, and kind? Be filled with the Spirit and let Him transform us. We can let His kindness show through us!

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)

What is Kindness? (#wtsdevo kindness)

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” - Titus 3:4-5

How did the kindness of God appear? Through the life of Jesus Christ. That's the greatest, most complete picture of kindness we will ever know. God saw the whole of the hurt, brokenness and despair in the world and He saw a people with no hope of breaking free from pain and suffering. So he sent his Son to DIE in order to rescue them. There’s no logical reason for him to do this. NONE. No one deserved his kindness. But thankfully, God doesn't treat us like we deserve.

Do you understand why we didn't deserve God's kindness? Titus 3:3 offers an explanation: "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures … " The word that really sticks out to me here is "enslaved." That's what sin does. Like a prisoner shackled and chained in the darkest dungeon, our disobedience, our desire to do things our own way rather than God's, stood between us and freedom. We were deceived by the things the world said would make us happy and we were captives to the lusts of our flesh. But when we accepted the truth, the true life that comes only through Christ, the chains were broken and we were set free.

God knew what we needed before we even asked for it. That is kindness—the ability to recognize the needs of others and take steps to meet those needs. Kindness is understanding. It's compassion. It’s love.

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Devotional Series: Kindness (#wtsdevo kindness)