Be Kind part 3
Kindness is useful is every situation. Because love is kind. And love is the answer to every problem. And, listen, I've seen the jokes about students writing "love" or "Jesus" on their tests over and over, but clearly that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about people. And people need love. Bottom line. So look at Proverbs 17:9 (NLT), "Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends." And here's my thought for today: There is nothing more kind--nothing more useful--than forgiveness. I almost think that in some ways we take this aspect of God's love--of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross--for granted. I like to hit hard the point about Jesus being the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world. I think that's very important. But, like I said, we can't sleep on forgiveness. Because even if your sin (nature) is taken away... there are probably some things in your life that you're not very proud of. Things in your life that you feel guilty about. And that's where forgiveness comes in. You know how they say charity starts at home? Taking care of you and yours and then working out from there? Well, I think forgiveness starts within. You have to know that you are forgiven, and you have to forgive yourself. Then you can think about forgiving others. Because you can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. I know I say that just about every day, but I'm hoping somebody will hear it. REALLY hear it. Once you have been forgiven--and I believe that when Jesus was on the cross and He asked His Father to forgive them because they didn't know what they were doing, I believe He was praying for the people who were literally, physically crucifying Him... AND for everybody who had ever lived or would ever live. None of us knew what we were doing. We were all dark, and void, and without form before God spoke and said, "Let there be light."--once you have been forgiven, you can forgive yourself. And you can forgive others. You can let go of things that would otherwise hold you back from being in relationship with people. Dwelling on things can even separate close friends. I had a friend back in middle school, once upon a very long time ago. And something came between us. And we stopped being friends. That's not what the world needs. The world needs to build bridges, not walls. The world needs kindness. And forgiveness. Forgiveness is what makes love prosper. And grow. And, I'm telling you, when you forgive someone... THEY are probably dwelling on it. You can change their whole deal. And even if they aren't dwelling on it, because sometimes YOU dwell on things that they don't even realize they've done, forgiveness is like unlocking a jail cell and then realizing that YOU were the one in prison the entire time. Forgiveness frees us. Both those who did wrong, and those were wronged. And I can't hardly think of anything more useful than that. Not when it comes to people. Not when it comes to relationship. Not when it comes to fixing problems.