BE KIND
Ephesians 4:32 NASB
Be kind to one another!
Kind – generous, helpful, merciful, sympathetic, caring about other people. Not causing harm or damage.
Imagine for a moment what a marriage and family would be like that obeyed this command! One that exhibited the meaning of this word, kind, and practiced those attributes. Those five words, so easy to say, so clear, so concise, so powerful when lived!
My wife wisely taught this command to each of our children, almost as soon as they could talk. Be kind to one another. She demonstrated it to the children by the way she lived it every day. She was kind to them, she was kind with her words, she was kind to me. She was helpful, generous, caring, sweet to them, gracious, thoughtful and considerate. All these characteristics make up the meaning of the word kind. While none of us is perfect, just think for a moment of the impact of living this command. Think how it would change your marriage. Picture for a moment how your children would treat each other if they were kind to each other. Think of the joy and peace in a home where this command is practiced. Think of the impact this would have on your relationship with your spouse.
What if we were to decorate our lives with kindness this Christmas, like we decorate our Christmas tree with ornaments? What if we ornamented our lives with generosity toward our spouse and children? With merciful, sympathetic understanding? With an eagerness to jump in and help one another with acts of serving? With kind words of encouragement?
Kindness changes the entire atmosphere and environment of the home. Think back on your own growing up. Was your home, your family life filled with kindness? Were your siblings cheerfully eager to help one another? Did the children go out of their way to serve each other, were they sympathetic and caring towards one another? Were your parents that way towards each other? If not, now you realize why your home life was so difficult, why it left such painful memories. If it’s not kind, it’s cruel!
Love displays itself in kindness! Being kind is love in action! This is why these two words are so often joined in Psalms when the writer speaks of God’s lovingkindness towards us! This word is used 126 times in Psalms in the NASB Bible.
Did you know it is going to take God all of eternity to show us the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus?
Did you know that your own soul, your marriage and family is nourished and enriched when you are kind? Did you also know that when you are not practicing kindness, you are by default being cruel, and you are slowly destroying yourself, and your family? Do you want mentally, emotionally healthy kids? Teach them to be kind. Kind in their words, kind in their actions. Teach them to be caring, and sympathetic. God promises this will nourish their own life and soul. If they are not actively kind they will be cruel, there is no middle ground and they will do harm and damage to themselves and others. Their existence will be oppressive. You want a well nourished marriage? BE KIND TO EACH OTHER!
Proverbs 11:17 NLT
Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel.
Proverbs 16:24 NLT
Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body!
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
