To Encourage You

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another.”

Are you kind?  I can assure you, sometimes I’m not!  But I really want to be.  It’s something I pray about and ask God to help me with.  This morning as I was thinking about this, it occurred to me that one way in which such prayers have been answered is in a form that perhaps I don’t recognize often enough. That “form” is in the way that God brings people into my life, from time to time, that it can be so easy to be unkind TO. 

Do you have anyone in your life that gets under your skin?  Maybe they make you impatient for some reason.  Perhaps they have some quirk that irritates you.  Maybe they are unkind TO you, so it’s very tempting to be unkind BACK!  Whatever the case, it’s very likely that one reason such people are a part of our life is for practice in this area of kindness. 

You see, just like physical strength comes to our physical bodies by some form of resistance (think about lifting weights at the gym), spiritual strength often comes by way of resistance that tests us spiritually.  As such, it’s a very good thing. It’s something we need, and God knows that.  I can tell you that, for me, working out at the gym isn’t something I long to do.  I do it (not as much as I should, mind you), but when I do, it’s usually despite the fact that I’d really rather be doing something else. Something easier. Something that doesn’t require so much sweat and effort.  Likewise, I don’t look forward to dealing with difficult people.  Yet, I find that I have to whether I like it or not, for that’s how God has sovereignly ordered my life.  I should realize that if I really want to be a kind person, if I pray sincerely for God to produce and strengthen this spiritual fruit in my life, I should expect to be pruned by His sovereign hand from time to time to produce it.  And it is by difficult people that this pruning is so often done. 

You see, it’s so easy to be kind to kind and loving people.  But showing kindness to such people doesn’t really mean that YOU are kind.  Rather, it’s in the difficult and challenging relationships in life that the true nature of the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is found out. 

May God help us in this matter of kindness, for it’s a wonderful attribute and mark of a grace-filled life.