Extending Kindness

photo by scx.hu

Extending Kindness

The struggles inside church congregations are sometimes not always visible to the human eye. Sometimes you have to step beyond the scrimmage line or safety zone to see what a person is feeling deep down inside. Such as they might feel like an outsider, alone, sick, sad, or even suicidal. People are so good about hiding behind a mask. We tell each other everything is good or everything is fine. We keep to our little clicks and safety zones, afraid of fumbling, and we ignore that little whisper telling us we should go over and talk to that person, or visit someone who is ill, or provide a meal to someone in need, or extend a hand of kindness or good will to someone. You never know, by performing such acts of kindness, you might just cheer someone up or brighten their day. By extending kindness to someone you do not know or letting someone know that you care about them is a quality that Jesus showed throughout the New Testament. It did not matter to Jesus what race they were, what job they had, or what past sins they had committed. It is a quality that every Christian should strive for, and it is quality I think we all struggle with to attain.

In Galatians 5:22-23, it directs Christians to strive for Christ-like qualities, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such things there is no law.” The Holy Spirit is a gift from God who resides in each of us when we accept Jesus as our Savior. He is our helper, and our guide. To obtain the fruit of the Spirit, we need to stop and listen to the Holy Spirit, focus on the Word of God, and make an effort to be more Christ-like.

If we harden our hearts and ignore the Spirit, God’s divine purpose will not reveal itself, and we will miss out on beautiful, heart-enriching blessings from our Father.

May you have a blessed weekend!

Carol