Be Kind

As the youngest of nine children with four older brothers, it seemed I was constantly annoying someone. I routinely heard my parents telling the other kids to be nice to me; “He’s younger than y’all.”  At the time, I really appreciated the sentiment, but it was always their retaliation when mom and dad were not around that helped me understand how my brothers really felt. 

Being nice is not what Paul is talking about here. He says to be kind. When we are nice, we are trying to keep the status quo. We don’t want to make waves and we are primarily concerned with how the situation might make us look to others. Nice can allow us to act one way externally regardless of how we feel inside. 

When we are kind, it is always with the other person’s best interest at heart. When we genuinely want others to be blessed, we treat them the way we would want to be treated. When Paul says to be tenderhearted, he is calling us to be compassionate and sympathetic to the circumstances of those around us. 

Being kind and compassionate is a decision. It’s a choice. Just like forgiveness. 

Naturally, when we are showing compassion toward others, we are led to forgive, and when we are only concerned about ourselves, our heart is ripe for fostering unforgiveness. To guard against unforgiveness, we need to seek to genuinely be kind and tenderhearted to others just as God is with us. 

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Lord, may I be more concerned with being a blessing than with how I may feel or look to others. Show me how to be genuinely kind and tenderhearted toward others, putting their needs and interests above my own, and may I always be filled with compassion and willingness to forgive.  Amen.