Kindness

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Friday, September 13, 2019

If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.  Romans 12:8

Last week I was using the weedwhacker around the yard.  My concern was the side yard where the weeds had been neglected and looked like a jungle.  I walked around the corner to the side yard and immediately noticed the neighborhood lion kitty “Bruno” stalking a mouse or maybe a frog.  He was crouched in the high weeds in pounce mode, eyes intensely focused on his next meal.  Just then I stepped on a twig and the noise got his attention.  Bruno turned, took one look at me and froze with eyes the size of dinner plates.   I called to him, hey, buddy.  Before I could finish the second word, the little man turned scardey-cat and cleared my back fence with a single leap.
It took me a moment to take stock of what Bruno had seen.  Just about daily he approaches me for head pats and back rubs and there is no fear, only friendship.  But what he saw that afternoon coming right at him was dark sunglasses, dirty work hat, head-set sound savers, full respirator mask, and a low rumbling weedwhacker that had Texas Chain saw massacre written all over it!  Haven't seen Bruno since that moment; I sure hope he wasn't working on life #9!

I’m normally quite kind to animals.  On occasion, especially when I’m dressed to kill weeds, I may seem like their worst nightmare.  It all depends on if I’ve taken stock of how I look, and what attitude I’ve got that determines whether it’s Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde they see.  If I’m serious about being kind, I will do that checkup.  I’m certain Bruno would appreciate it!

For You Today

More than a few times in Scripture Paul encouraged us to be kind to each other.  He also encouraged us to pause for that self-examination to see if our faith is genuine[i], and if our hearts are pure as we come to the Lord’s Table.[ii]  Being kind to one another also requires that same self-exam over our motives, and how we come across to people.  If our aim is to help, it helps to be gentle; just ask Bruno! 

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

 

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of  Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

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[i] 2 Corinthians 13:5

[ii] 1 Corinthians 11:28