My friend, someone today will treat you rudely, fail to
appreciate what you have done, or even speak of you in a way that could
potentially hurt. Someone yesterday may
have caused you physical harm or bothered you in a way that they either knew or
did not understand. Someone tomorrow
will not be sensitive to your needs nor appreciate your perspective.
When these moments occur, forgive.
As these moments come to mind, forgive.
Let forgiveness be the breath you breathe, the air you
inhale in this universe that stands as a reality of God’s own forgiveness. The forgiving Son of God, Who hears His name
spoken in vain millions of times each day, forgives the very people who fail to
care for Him. This beautiful Savior suffered
at the hands of individuals who mocked Him and tore at His flesh in great
physical abuse. As He hung upon the cross, those who passed before Him hid their
faces from Him. He was “despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3).
In the Great Judgment Day, this wondrous Forgiver of sins
will stand as the Substitute for those who have placed their trust in His
Redemption. He, the Advocate of Saints,
will bear the message, “justified!” to His Father, the Righteous Judge.
Oh, dear believer, forgive!
Today, forgive that one, even if you must do so 490 times.
Tomorrow, forgive again.
And keep on forgiving.
Stop counting the numbers.
Stop rehearsing the offenses.
Forgive.
Great freedom comes from forgiveness—and such freedom can be
experienced this day, tomorrow, and the rest of your life.
So if you feel the icy wall of irritation getting erected in
your heart, ask the Lord to show if you might be failing to forgive.
But don’t stop there.
Couple that principle of forgiveness with this amazing truth: “And be ye kind, one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath
forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
Kindness. It’s the
biblical antidote to bitterness, something that is to be coupled with
forgiveness as the positive, “put on” action that we wear in the face of trying
situations.
Kindness begins with an others-perspective that emanates
from the kind and loving Savior.
Colossians 3:12 states, “Put on
therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering.” Kindness is something by which believers
should be marked. Classified. Known.
Kind speech. Kind thoughts. Kind actions.
To everyone in the pathway of
life—yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
In the spring of 2016, I began to
pray that God’s love would be so real to me that I would see it
everywhere. That, like the air I
breathe, I could experience it profoundly and pass that love on to others.
One way God is answering that
prayer in my own life is by showing me that forgiveness is always coupled by
kindness.
I didn’t feel that I was not
forgiving anyone. But, as God is
answering my prayer to love others in a way that they can feel, I have begun to
see several positive actions that are definitely to be part of the equation of
tangible love.
First, I learned that whenever a
hurtful thought came to mind, I should inwardly bless the individual by whom I
had been hurt—to pray for God’s blessing on that person’s life. (Luke 6:28, “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”) That began to work in me a feeling that their
sin wasn’t all that big and my responsibility—to bless them—was far greater.
Second, I became aware of James
3:9, “[With the tongue] bless we God, even the
Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.” As I began in prayer to bless those who had
hurt me, I realized that any negative thoughts against others can be destructive. That my prayers need to be phrased in a way
that focuses on God and His glory, not my own hurt or pain. That it is hypocritical to bless God with the
same lips that in any way excoriate man.
But, now, this part of the
equation—purposeful kindness—is making me aware of the ways people might be
hurt by an action that I didn’t intend to be harmful.
It’s making me more sensitive to
others about me and their perspective—tenderhearted in a way they can feel and
understand.
And it’s showing me that I wasn’t
as kind as I thought I was.
I thought people understood that I
had nothing against them. That they
could read my work, words, and gifts to them as sacrifice and care for them.
But this positive aspect of
Christ’s message—“be kind”—has shown me that the way I approached certain situations
needed to be different. And, while I
felt I was loving God with all my “heart, soul, mind and strength,” I see I was
missing something—something Christ values highly.
The law of kindness.
Toward everyone.
For He shed His blood for every
person, and each is incredibly valuable to Him.
Only humankind is made in His image.
We alone can experience redemption—the highest price God ever paid for
anything, the death of His own Son.
And so God desires that nothing
said, spoken, or thought pass through our hearts without this beautiful and
merciful truth—be kind. In the way it’s
said, reported, explained…In the way it’s thought of, prayed for, listened to.
Purposefully, always, every day,
no matter the offense, the disappointment, or whatever—be kind.
This liberating truth is breathing
more life into every relationship. It’s
transforming me through God’s truth. And
it’s a change I like.
If forgiveness is freedom, then kindness
is rejuvenation.
If forgiveness is the sound of chains released, kindness is
the transformation of those iron chains into a set of newly-fashioned wheels.
If forgiveness is the vision of an unbound prisoner, loosed from shackles,
running at top speed, kindness is what delivers to him the best
shoes on the market to help him run his race.
And, while forgiveness affects the
heart, kindness touches the lives of people in a way that they can feel.
That they can see.
And that they can understand—you
truly are forgiven and loved.
Kindness is the spirit of Christ
living through the believer.
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