Be Kind
Luke 6:35 … love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Kindness is a much under-rated quality these days. Sure, we love it when other people are kind toward us. In a world that seems to be moving ever faster, where things appear to be getting more and more transactional, in a world where people are retreating into digital, electronic friendships rather than real ones, yep – kindness, when we experience it, really stands out.
When you hear that word “kindness” you know exactly what it means. No definition required, right? But exactly what is it?
Well, it’s being nice to other people, surely. But which people? Because it’s ever so easy to be kind, to the people who are nice to us. My dictionary tells me that kindness is: the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.
Great, and I’m sure that there are people in your life toward whom you find it incredibly easy to be kind, quite simply because they’re kind to you in return.
But what about the difficult people in your life? Conflict lies all around us. And it’s conflict – in all its forms – that robs us of our peace and joy, because we’re quite simply not made to be in conflict all the time.
Ask anyone, would you rather have peace or conflict? Well, you know what the answer is. So, let me ask you again, what about those difficult people in your life? Here’s what Jesus had to say on this very thing:
… love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. (Luke 6:35)
God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked, eh? Well, He is. In fact, He’s been kind over and over again toward you and me, even when we’ve been ungrateful, even when we’ve done the wrong thing, even when we’ve been wicked. Over and over and over again.
Love your enemies then, do good to them, lend to them, be generous to them, just as God has been to you: kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked. Why? Will it always bring peace? No, not always, although it will substantially increase the chances of peace.
Think about those times when you’ve been acting like a fool, and the person you’ve been hurting turns around and responds to you in kindness. Nine times out of ten it’s enough to disarm any sense of hostility you may have had in your heart.
And whilst that won’t always happen, what will happen is that God will notice. God will see and your reward from Him will be great.
Like I said, kindness is such an underrated quality these days, yet it has the power to bring peace and blessing into your life.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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