Aspire to be Kind

 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Colossians 3: 12-14

    In November, I attended a memorial service for my cousin's daughter who died too soon. Vivacious Lora had packed a lot of achievement and adventure into her thirty-four years, and her life's motto was, "If you can be anything in this world, be kind." 

    A friendly adult bends down to a child and inquires, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Indeed, we all hope our children are successful, humble and kind. When cuddling a baby, no one wishes that he/she grows up to be a mean-spirited bully, or worse. Yet, somewhere along the way, we have all been unkind, uncompassionate, proud, impatient people. So, what happened?

     When I was at the vet with my cat, there were signs taped to the lucite wall, which separated the secretary from the customer, that implored kindness be shown. The vitriol and hatred that have spawned from the masking and mandating have ramped up to ridiculous proportions, causing segregation. I read where, in Germany, Christmas celebrations have been divided between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. This should not be!

    These attitudes are reminiscent of the lepers in Jesus' day who were banned from society. Before approaching another human being, they had to call out, "Unclean! Unclean!" Thanks be to God, our Lord Jesus demonstrated compassion to these poor people, providing the touch of healing. As God's chosen people, we are called to do the same, for it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit to exude "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5: 22, 23)

    When tart words come to mind, let us pause and aspire to be kind, going the extra mile to show the love of Jesus in a dark world so we may "bind together in perfect unity."

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4: 31, 32