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Your Kindness Quotient
Your Kindness Quotient
by Max Lucado
by Max Lucado
How kind are you? What is your kindness quotient? When was the last time you did something kind for someone in your family—e.g., got a blanket, cleaned off the table, prepared the coffee—without being asked?
Think about your school or workplace. Which person is the most overlooked or avoided? A shy student? A grumpy employee? Maybe he doesn't speak the language. Maybe she doesn't fit in. Are you kind to this person?
Kind hearts are quietly kind. They let the car cut into traffic and the young mom with three kids move up in the checkout line. They pick up the neighbor's trash can that rolled into the street. And they are especially kind at church. They understand that perhaps the neediest person they'll meet all week is the one standing in the foyer or sitting on the row behind them in worship. Paul writes: "When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers" (Galatians 6:10).
And, here is a challenge—what about your enemies? With the boss who fired you or the wife who left you. Suppose you surprised them with kindness? Not easy? No, it's not. But mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness. Paul equates the two. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:32 NKJV). Jesus said:
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you.… If you love only the people who love you, what praise should you get? … [L]ove your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without hoping to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God, because he is kind even to people who are ungrateful and full of sin. Show mercy, just as your Father shows mercy. (Luke 6:27-28, 32, 35-36)
Kindness at home. Kindness in public. Kindness at church and kindness with your enemies. Pretty well covers the gamut, don't you think? Almost. Someone else needs your kindness. Who could that be? You.
Since he is so kind to us, can't we be a little kinder to ourselves? Oh, but you don't know me, Max. You don't know my faults and my thoughts. You don't know the gripes I grumble and the complaints I mumble. No, I don't, but he does. He knows everything about you, yet he doesn't hold back his kindness toward you. Has he, knowing all your secrets, retracted one promise or reclaimed one gift?
No, he is kind to you. Why don't you be kind to yourself? He forgives your faults. Why don't you do the same? He thinks tomorrow is worth living. Why don't you agree? He believes in you enough to call you his ambassador, his follower, even his child. Why not take his cue and believe in yourself?
Be kind to yourself. God thinks you're worth his kindness. And he's a good judge of character.
When You Ask “Why, God?”
When You Ask “Why, God?”
By Dr. Jeff Schreve
We all grieved and mourned the brutal, unimaginable horror that took place November 5, 2017, at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. A deranged and demonized (if not demon-possessed) gunman shot and killed 26 people and wounded 20 others in the worst church shooting America has ever witnessed. The loss of life and utter decimation to individual families and the church family at large are simply heartbreaking to contemplate.
In times like this, we naturally ask, “Why, God? What gives here? These people were worshiping You, and they were senselessly and viciously gunned down in cold blood. I cannot understand why, on earth or in heaven, You would have allowed this to happen.”
You know, it is normal and natural to ask God why. Jesus asked why when He was on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. We just need to know that God does not often answer our question of why. He is not in the business of explaining. He is in the business of sustaining. We will probably never know the answer to our whys this side of heaven. But, what we can know and cling to are these truths:
God is good.
God is love.
God is perfect.
God is in control.
God never makes a mistake.
God cares for us.
God allows things to happen in life that don’t make sense to us… but they do make sense to Him. His understanding compared to our understanding is like the Pacific Ocean compared to a tea cup. When we ask God our why questions, His response is typically something akin to this, “My child, you would not understand even if I explained it to you. (Our teacup minds cannot begin to contain the enormity of the Pacific Ocean.) So how about this: just trust Me.”
TRUST AND PRAY
In the midst of this tragedy, may we trust God and pray that He would use this somehow and some way to further His Kingdom. May He use this as an opportunity for people like you and me to have spiritual conversations with those who do not know Christ. May we be faithful to pray for the families of those killed … and for the church, the pastor and the entire community. May we remember that this fallen world is not our home. We are citizens of heaven who are to hold all things loosely while on this earth. Nothing really belongs to us, not even our own children. Everything belongs to God — “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). We are simply the managers of His stuff. May we manage well, trusting Him to do “all things well” and “work all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
By Dr. Jeff Schreve
We all grieved and mourned the brutal, unimaginable horror that took place November 5, 2017, at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. A deranged and demonized (if not demon-possessed) gunman shot and killed 26 people and wounded 20 others in the worst church shooting America has ever witnessed. The loss of life and utter decimation to individual families and the church family at large are simply heartbreaking to contemplate.
In times like this, we naturally ask, “Why, God? What gives here? These people were worshiping You, and they were senselessly and viciously gunned down in cold blood. I cannot understand why, on earth or in heaven, You would have allowed this to happen.”
You know, it is normal and natural to ask God why. Jesus asked why when He was on the cross, dying for the sins of the world. We just need to know that God does not often answer our question of why. He is not in the business of explaining. He is in the business of sustaining. We will probably never know the answer to our whys this side of heaven. But, what we can know and cling to are these truths:
God is good.
God is love.
God is perfect.
God is in control.
God never makes a mistake.
God cares for us.
God allows things to happen in life that don’t make sense to us… but they do make sense to Him. His understanding compared to our understanding is like the Pacific Ocean compared to a tea cup. When we ask God our why questions, His response is typically something akin to this, “My child, you would not understand even if I explained it to you. (Our teacup minds cannot begin to contain the enormity of the Pacific Ocean.) So how about this: just trust Me.”
TRUST AND PRAY
In the midst of this tragedy, may we trust God and pray that He would use this somehow and some way to further His Kingdom. May He use this as an opportunity for people like you and me to have spiritual conversations with those who do not know Christ. May we be faithful to pray for the families of those killed … and for the church, the pastor and the entire community. May we remember that this fallen world is not our home. We are citizens of heaven who are to hold all things loosely while on this earth. Nothing really belongs to us, not even our own children. Everything belongs to God — “Behold, all souls are Mine” (Ezekiel 18:4). We are simply the managers of His stuff. May we manage well, trusting Him to do “all things well” and “work all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
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