Good Morning My Friends! Feelings matter! Everyone recognizes kindness when they experience it. Everyone.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
Remember the naughty list? I’ve written about this list of ungodly behaviors in previous days. In the following Scripture alone there is a list of 21 naughty behaviors and ruthless makes the list.
“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness…foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (Romans 1:29-31, ESV).
Ruthless is when we are hard-hearted, heartless, cold-hearted, and merciless.
Ruthless is showing a lack of sympathy or tender feelings for others. It’s complete disregard for others’ feelings. Guess what? Feelings matter.
Ruthless Ranting
You know what comes to mind right now? Okay, so for those of you who have ever watched the movie, “Christmas Vacation,” you’ll know what I’m talking about.
There’s a scene when Clark Griswold discovers his yearly bonus is not what he was expecting. He then proceeded to go on a rant about his ruthless boss.
“I want to look him straight in the eye, and I want to tell him what a cheap…rotten, no-good, bleep, bleep, bleep…heartless….BLEEP…Where’s the Tylenol?”
Okay, clearly I can’t repeat all the words he used to describe his ruthless boss, but I want to point out this is what happens to people when we are being ruthless to them. We cause frustration, strife, and anger among other things.
You know what else? When we treat others ruthlessly, they often fall into the same behavior. Look at how Clark Griswold acted? He definitely was not sympathetic to how his boss was feeling either or how his ruthless ranting impacted his listening family. Unfortunately, being ruthless tempts others to be ruthless too.
We are warned what happens to those who live out behaviors on the naughty list:
“I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21, ESV).
God wants us to refrain from being ruthless.
Be Kind
God commands us to be kind.
“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted” (Ephesians 4:32, ESV).
Kindness is having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others. When we embrace kindness, we both want and like doing good things and bringing happiness to others. Kindness includes being sympathetic, helpful, and tender to others.
Kindness is one of the fruits of Spirit. It makes the nice list.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22, ESV).
Not only should we intentionally be kind, but also we should intentionally not withhold kindness from others.
“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14, ESV).
Listen, being kind has power in others’ lives. It helps them feel taken care of, accepted, noticed, and happy, just to name of a few feelings. Feelings matter. We need to care about others’ feeling.
So, let’s put on kindness today.
Practical Application
So how can we embrace kindness today?
There’s a gazillion ways to be kind to others. If you don’t know what kindness looks like to someone, ask him or her.
But, I’m going to get you started:
- Provide something to someone that you know they need, such as help with dishes, babysitting, fill the car up with gas, or buy food for someone.
- Sit and talk with your grandma or grandpa who is elderly. Show interest in their life.
- If someone is sick, bring them some warm soup.
- Pray with someone.
- Play a game with a child.
- If someone is crying, listen, just listen to why. Don’t try to fix it. Just be tenderhearted.
- If it’s raining where you are, offer your umbrella to someone.
- The acts of kindness list is endless. Find out what kindness looks like to those people in your life today and be kind to them.
Let’s embrace kindness today to help others know we care.
Blessing for Today
[callout]’May God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’ (Colossians 3:12, NIV).[/callout]
Just for Today
Refrain from Being Ruthless. Embrace Kindness!
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