Badgering with Kindness ~ 2

This is the second part of a lesson, which is about using kindness and compassion rather than cruelty to make your way through the world. It is from Chapter 12 of Meeting God in Quiet Places by F. LaGard Smith.

One of the things you should think about is that Jesus sees our brokenness--when we are "down" and don't know how to get up on our own. We say, "Don't kick a man when he's down," but not everyone knows when you're down. But Jesus not only knows when you're down, he knows why. If you turn to God so that He can lead you, you will learn to let the Lord's Spirit be active in your life so that it can heal you, and you will realize that other people are hurting too.

Even when it's simply an ugly attitude toward a clerk in a store, cruelty tears down, while kindness builds up. Compassion works to heal the wounds of a broken life, and to forgive trespasses and cover imperfections in others. And that is what God does. God can see right through our sins to our brokenness. Then He heals you, forgives you, and covers your sin.

It's because God loves us with our sin and brokenness that we know how to love others. Peter denied Jesus three times. Did Jesus make Peter feel small? No, Jesus said nothing to Peter and understood that Peter was a broken man. Peter had sworn that he wouldn't deny Jesus, but he did three times. Our best intentions sometimes aren't good enough. Jesus had a knowing look of disappointment because love hopes for the best, but also recognizes how frail the human condition can be.

When you look at someone else, realize that you are seeing yourself. You aren't unkind to yourself when you recognize your brokenness. Why be unkind to those who are human beings just as you are? Yes, you may be broken in a different way than another person, but you are both broken. And this is where Jesus' words about "do unto others" can help you: others look over your imperfections, so you should look over their imperfections. But you must know God's love in your own life to share it with others!

LaGard says: "So what is the spiritual antidote to our temptation to be unkind? One of the best ways of learning compassion is to appreciate that the weakness we see in others--that same weakness that disappoints us, and frustrates us, and angers us to the point of wanting to be unkind in return--that very weakness may be a wonderful strength under normal circumstances!" And if we could know the other side of that person who is so frustrating, perhaps from knowing their strength, we could allow for their weakness. 

God sees through our weaknesses to our strengths. That's the way God works in our lives: He knows our weaknesses, but loves us in spite of them. He makes up for our lack.  Shouldn't we do the same for our fellow man? Try loving others because God first loved us. How can we continue to be unkind when the Hound of Heaven badgers us with divine acceptance!

Want to have a wonderful day? Try badgering everyone you meet with kindness and compassion!

Blessings...Mimi