Be Kind part 1
Remember Blockbuster videos? Or am I just that old? Either way, they had a slogan that said, "Be kind, please rewind." Remember VHS tapes? But I digress. That slogan always stuck with me. To the point that anytime anybody says anything about kindness, and especially (obviously) if someone says, "Be kind" I always in my head say, "Please rewind." Now I rambled my way through all of that to say this: Kindness is almost a lost art. To the point that sometimes we mistake kindness for flirting. We always think there is an ulterior motive behind everything. Especially nice things. We think, "This is too good to be true. What's really going on here?" But for the next few days--and maybe for the next few weeks, depending how it goes--I want to really look at Colossians 3:12. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering." And I want to start with kindness, because of my (somewhat?) amusing Blockbuster story. But also because I think a little bit of kindness goes a long, long way. When people attack, it is sometimes (usually?) coming from a place of hurt. And if we just throw it right back--an eye for an eye--and escalate the situation, we're doing more hurting than helping. Let me say it another way: "A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). I think one of the kindest things you can do is turn the other cheek. Let go and let God, as they say. Let IT go. Don't make things worse by immediately hitting back when someone takes a swing at you. Love is longsuffering, right? It (HE) can suffer for a long time. It (HE) can take a lot. And it (HE) can still be kind no matter what. I don't like to argue. In fact, for the most part, I won't do it. I can't tell you how many times Logan has heard me say, "Son, I'm not going to argue with you." But I can tell you its a lot of times. But if I do get dragged into an argument, I try my best to have the RIGHT Word (capital W, love) instead of the last word. I would rather be kind then right. Ok. Before I finish this Rant I want to finish (see what I did there) building the foundation for the Rant series. And in the KJV Bible the word "kindness" in Colossians 3:12 is number 5544 in Strong's Greek Concordance. It means, "usefulness, that is, moral excellence (in character or demeanoer):- gentleness, good (-ness)." Like I said, I want to slow way down and look at all of the "things" we are to "put on." I want to stay with Colossians 3:12 for the forseeable future. Becauses I want to be kind. I want to be useful. I want to Rant about something real. Something that means something. I want to be kind, while encouraging you all to be kind. I think sometimes we get too deep theologically that people can't hold their breath to get down to where we're at. I don't want to do that. I want to make the Word accessible. Starting with the word, "Kindness." So... be kind. Help, instead of hurting. Be useful. Know what to say, when to say it, HOW to say it. Be gentle. Be soft. Be... kind.