Webster defines "kind" as: "Of a good or benenvolent nature or disposition; proceeding from a good-natured readiness to benefit or please others; beneficent, helpful, friendly, or cordial." Wow! Sometimes it is just hard for us to wrap our brains around kindness. But in this verse, the word for "love" in the original Greek is agape which means to love in a social or moral sense. However, this word means so much more. Agape is the type of love that God shows to us- that unconditional love that wants only the very best for the one loved without expecting anything in return. It is a selfless love.
Combine those two definitions and we have a pretty tall order. In fact, when I think of that kind of love the second thing that comes to my mind is my dogs. They love me, are happy to see me, pay rapt attention to me (well, Squirt is still a little ADHD), and really don't care what I have done that day that I am ashamed of. They just accept me for who they believe I am, kind. And you know what? In no way, shape, or form do I deserve that kind of love from a living creature, but that is the best part; I don't have to deserve it. It is given freely. I don't have to earn it.
In this age of rush, rush, rush, I am finding that kindness is in very short supply. I see couples supposedly taking time out to be with each other over dinner and both of them are on the cell phone. If they wanted to talk to other people, why did they even bother to sit down together? And then there is the way we (and by we, I mean me) behave in traffic. I have noticed of late that I have very little patience with other drivers and I'm not even driving! Living in the country, we don't have a lot of traffic unless someone is moving a tractor or combine down our two-lane road. But when we go to Memphis there is horn honking, cutting people off, refusing to allow them to either pull out of a parking lot or change lanes and the ever present one finger wave. Why do we wasted all that energy on being hateful when we feel awful when we get done? Why don't we spend our energy on something that makes us feel important and good about ourselves?
It's really not hard to be kind. It can be as easy as a smile or eye contact with a waitress or cashier. Or saying "thank you" when they have been of service. When was the last time you told the cashier in WalMart "thank you for your help?" I have, also, come to believe holding the door for someone is a lost art. And when someone does hold a door for you, do you smile at them and say "thank you?"
I truly believe that it is the day to day things that break us down and cause us to question our worth to this world. However, I also believe that it is the simple things that can make someone's day.
Let me give you an example. I have a gift that was passed down from my mother. I appear very open and caring. I have people in check out lanes, movie lines, waitresses, cashiers, and clerks that have told me what they were struggling with that day. In fact, one waitress sat down next to my husband, leaned back in the booth, and had her arm around him as she told me her struggles with her two-year-old and working. This kind of thing also happened on our 25th anniversary. We were at a VERY expensive restaurant (You know the kind...you pay three times the price for one fourth the food), when the waitress came up to take our drink order. I greeted her with a hello and asked how she was. Since she was asked, she told me all about what a bad day she was having. After a fairly long explanation, she left to get our drinks. My husband looked me in the eyes and very "lovingly" said, "When she comes back to take our order, you put your hands over your eyes. This is OUR anniversary, NOT a counseling session."
Since tomorrow is Sunday, let's talk about every hallway in every church all over the United States. You pass your friends and fellow Christians and always say, "Hi, how are you?" and don't even stop long enough to get an answer. Or a fellow churchmember comes up and asks you to pray for them about something that is really troubling to them and you say that you will and keep on walking to service. God convicted me about these things a few years ago and now I only ask "How are you?" if I have time to stop and when someone asks me to pray for something, I stop wherever we are and we have prayer, right there in the hallway!
This week, and especially tomorrow, let's be kind to one another. Let's ask ourselves two questions. Have I been kind to anyone today? The second is harder because it calls for us to be honest with ourselves, "What unkindness do I need to repent to God for and who do I need to make the effort to apologize to?" If every human being on earth would ask those two questions daily, the world would be a nicer place to live in.
If I run into you in some public place and I am with my husband, try to wait until he is in the bathroom or away from the table to tell me about your day (You'd think he would have gotten used to it after 32 years.). But if I run into you out and about and I am alone, feel free to tell me all your troubles. I promise I'll listen.
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