Skip to main content

Do What You Can


              Never miss a chance to be kind to others.  Kindness is good for the soul.  In these days kindness is so unexpected that it makes a huge impact.  My recent emphasis into kindness developed after I had been cruelly treated.  After I found myself so dumbfounded by why someone would be so cruel, I started focusing on kindness.  Rather than be brought down by the unreasonable reality, I fought off my natural tendency to obsess over my wound by being kind to others.  I was surprised by what happened.  By not missing a chance to be kind, I distracted myself from my pain and I built up my own soul more than any kindness portrayed.
              No wonder God’s Word is so full of admonitions for us to be kind to one another.  He loves us so much He doesn’t want us to miss out on anything that will soothe our souls while living in a fallen world. Be careful; it only works if you are kind without expecting your kindness to be recognized, returned or responded to in any way.  As I have been meditating further on kindness, I realize that this must give God positive energy every day.  He is so incredibly kind to me.  He gives me sleep.  He gives me air to breathe.  He delights me with the variety and intricacies found in nature.  Even a blade of grass displays His attention to detail and the wonder of His love for all that He has made.  He has kindly given me life here on earth and given His presence and strength to live it whether I am aware of Him or not.  1 Corinthians 13 tells us that love is patient first and then love is kind.  Perhaps it was written in that order because you need to be patient to be kind. 
              Colossians 3:12 tells us to clothe ourselves with kindness.  “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  God is so kind to us because of His great compassion for us.  When others treat us cruelly without reason, it is usually because of some unresolved conflict that is going on inside of them.  When we let their actions stir up anger, bitterness or revenge, we lose that Godlike quality of compassion that leads to kindness.  God has every reason to be full of wrath towards each one of us every day.  However, He does not treat us as our sins deserve.  Rather, He is amazingly kind and compassionate.  He allows us to go through hard times, but He is ever kind in never leaving us or forsaking us in the midst of our suffering, whether it is the consequence of our own sin or just a reality of living in a sin-filled world.
              Romans 12:18 tells us: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  One way to carry out this focus is to be kind.  When young women are talking about the man they want to marry, I always tell them to marry someone who is kind.  Kindness is essential to a happy marriage. 
              Why not try a little kindness today?  Look for ways you can be kind to others and see how it transforms your own soul.

Copyright © 2018.  Deborah R. Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess (Deuteronomy 11:8).   I decided through tears that I would go on
2 comments
Read more

Day Nine - Journey's End

    I didn't think I could write today, but do to bad weather we now have extra time at the airport. Today we looked over the model city and I can't believe all I have learned. Some of the excavations since the model was completed reveal differences in what they built in the model. What amazed me was that I could see what wasn't where I expected based on what I experienced. Here is a wide view of the Model City which is 1:5 scale.  It was created by a Jewish man who wanted his son to understand what Jerusalem was once like.  Someone said that if you didn't see Jerusalem during the time of Herod the Great, you have never seen a beautiful city.  Do you understand what I mean about how grand this Temple was?            Next we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I learned a lot about the Essenes.  They lived like monks today.  Like Jesus, they were not happy with the way the Temple was being run and they came to the desert to offer truly holy sacrifices, untainted by the mismanage
2 comments
Read more

Not Treating Others as Their Sins Deserve

            Turning the other cheek has become a Christian cliché.   These beautiful and penetrating words of Jesus are minimized when we humans try to apply them without God.   The best we can do to achieve Jesus’ description in our power is repress our anger about the way someone sins against us.   This only serves to make us look stupid to the world, creates ulcers, or causes an unplanned, embarrassing, public explosion of anger.   Jesus spoke these words and many others like them to invoke the spiritual understanding that it is impossible to live out His directions for our lives without Him.   He has no intention of our trying to take His work on in our flesh.             It happens all the time in marriages and other relationships where one person who thinks they need to be a certain way to please God centers his or her relationships around keeping peace.   I don’t believe that kind of turning the other cheek is very pleasing to God.               No, God is inviting us
2 comments
Read more