“Love is kind.” (1 Cor. 13:4)
You probably have heard the expression “to kill someone with kindness” which, in reality, is to show how “good” you are and how “bad” he or she is. If we can kill with kindness, surely we can seek to save with it as well. Unfortunately the world can be an unkind place. It seems that kindness has gone out of style, at least in the world, but we are to be “in the world, but not of it”. How can we show the love of Jesus? By being like Jesus. The gospels paint a picture of our Savior as gentle and kind, touching the untouchables and ministering to the outcasts of society, the ones the religious establishment scorned and ostracized.
How can we do less than He, when He did so much for us? In Matthew 25:45 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Would we fail to show kindness for Jesus if we should meet Him on the street? I have no doubt that we would fall at His feet and rush to do whatever He asked of us. However, what He has actually already asked of us, we do not do. He has asked us to be kind to those that He loves, the people around us, those whom we see every day. And what will we say, when we see Him face to face and He asks us why we have failed to love those He loves, to show kindness to strangers and loved ones alike? Will we see His disappointment? Maybe His love and forgiveness for us will be too great for that, but dare we risk a broken heart should we fail the One Who never fails? I pray that we all will be more mindful every day of the kindnesses we can do. The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few. Will you be the one to show the kindness of God Almighty to those who are dying for His touch? He is counting on us all, and if we will yield to the Holy Spirit living in us–the Comforter, the Healer, our Refuge and Strength–we will find that He is all that we need to show the love of Jesus in a real and powerful way.
Yours in love and in Christ,
Sonya Richards
(To access the entire “Lessons in Love From 1 Corinthians 13” mini-series, please click here.)