Be Kind...

I was reading a blog post yesterday, written by a woman whose son has Aspberger's Syndrome, a form of autism where the child more than likely appears normal to most people but in layman's terms can come across as a 'spoiled child without discipline' because of neurological malfunction. I heard this woman's heartcry in her writing, that people often blamed them, the parents for not doing their job well enough and for dropping the ball in parenting. 

And my thoughts roll onward...

Friends, where is grace?
Where is love?
Where is the patience and acceptance of people
 as they are while inspiring them to move on in their lives with God?

I have had many lessons in this,
on either end of the spectrum.
I have misunderstood/lacked patience,
and I have been misunderstood and not
been given grace and love where it should have been.

My encouragement today to us all:

I have thought about this subject at length over the years.

Jesus was always kind.

Oh yes, sometimes he said hard things to religious people,

but He was never rude, always kind, always gracious.

I am not always that way and I want to be more like Jesus.

And I want to follow 1 Cor 13, where it says that

love (that is of God) is never rude...

it is patient,

it is kind,

it is long suffering.

You may not know why that teenager doesn't talk much

in prayer group at Bible school.

Don't assume it's because she is rebellious or

too proud to speak.

It may be that she would rather give place to

those who seem to be more needy and lonely

and she is being kind to them.

You may not know why a woman isn't participating

much today in the conversation after church.

Don't assume it's because she is being snobby.

Maybe she is disturbed about something,

and is feeling pressed in her spirit while

she waits on the Lord to show her how to walk

in whatever the situation is that is disturbing her.

Don't act out of the hurt that may come if 

your husband doesn't respond to you today 

in the way you feel you need it.

Perhaps the weight of his responsibilities is

pressing hard on his shoulders...

shoulders you could massage as you kiss his

whiskered face and whisper and "I  love you"

into his ear...

if only you will lay down  your selfish

desires enough to get to that place!

That child that is rude and obnoxious at church...

don't assume that it's from poor teaching or

because they are really wanting to be extremely selfish.

Perhaps you don't know the situation but can you 

feel compassion for that needy one,

realizing that obviously there is something amiss

that you don't know?

(I happen to know many situations like this

and it is often because the child is bothered

about something and cannot figure out how to

deal with it, and in their immaturity,

they act out of it in ways that are sinful.

Incidentally, there are adults like this too

who have never learned how to deal with the

problems that they have encountered.

They need our kindness too.)

That family who is like a thorn in your side...

who doesn't make the life choices you think they should

(and quite likely they should!)...

It's easy to excuse ourselves and say we do not want to

condone their lifestyle by our help,

and perhaps some of that is righteous,

but consider Jesus...

he fed people who should have thought to bring food

with them into the hills when they followed Him;

he healed the sick, even though their lifestyle might

have caused the disease/sickness in the first place;

He took the time to talk to a fearful Pharisee at night,

never once scolding him for not being brave enough to

come in the daytime.
No where do we see Jesus
berating people or
turning away from them
in their neediness.

Be kind.

Everyone needs our love and compassion.

And many times, there are details

and circumstances surrounding people's lives

that if we fully knew,

we would be ashamed of ourselves

for not being as kind and compassionate

as we could have and should have been.

We are all journeying through life,

and all have struggles and heartaches that

we need to deal with.

Many times, it leaves us unable to fully engage with people

in the way they might feel we should or that they want us to.

If we feel this way (unable to fulfill people's expectations of us),

then by all means, would that not 'automatically' make us

kind and loving to those who are not meeting

what expectations we might have of them?
Unfortunately, we deal with sinful natures,
and it is not an automatic thing,
but with JESUS' life lived in us
and our sinful one aside
it is possible to habitually be
compassionate and full of grace
toward others,
especially those who seem
extra needy.

I'm 'preaching] to me here.

I need this just as much as the next person.

Let's be kind.

Just like Jesus was.

HE was a great example to us all.

By His power, we can overcome our 

stupidity and selfishness,

and let Him supernaturally work 

His life in and thru us.

God bless you, friends.