Journal Entry ~ 09/27/18

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. - Colossians 3:12-14

In addition to compassion, we are to put on kindness. Kindness is more than just being pleasant or nice, it's a helpful attitude toward someone in need, without any benefit to the helper.  This isn't something that is inherent in us as humans - we help, but we almost never help when it is a sacrifice or it is inconvenient to us, and we generally only help when it benefits us. Often, the greatest benefit to us is how other people view us. In other words, we help because we want people to notice how kind we are, so we do it when others are watching or we tell people about what we're doing so they will
admire us.   

But I have something different at work in me - I have a grace that spurs me on to think of others before myself, that mellows anything in me that could be harsh.  It is a Spirit of kindness. It is only because I have the grace of God at work in my heart that I have the power to be truly kind, to help someone in need without any benefit other than glorifying God. In a world marked with harshness and violence, I want to be a person who is genuinely kind to all I encounter, I want to sacrifice my time and energy helping others and not myself, so that all may see the grace of God at work in my heart. 

Consider how our small acts of kindness can be overridden by our busy schedule, but an act as small as donating a can of food, or complimenting a stranger can have a profound impact for the Kingdom on those people who are lost. We have multiple opportunities every single day in our responses to people to be kind, to be His hands and feet to the people around us.  From an edifying word to a sacrificial action - be kind. 


Press on ~ you are loved 💗

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