My son’s poem he wrote for school has me really thinking about kindness.
The last verse of the poem says,
“ Kindness means I really care about you.”
Do we really care about people who look different from us? Or act different? How about people who do things differently than we choose to do things, are we kind to them? Do we care about them? Is our kindness genuine? My son’s poem was so simply written, as he is only in 1st grade, but regardless of its simplicity the implications spoke to my heart. Is my kindness genuine? Everyone can be "kind", but genuine kindness is the result of love.... The poem has got me thinking, am I loving fully? Am I loving those different from me?
God is love and He is the sole reason love or kindness even exist. It's only because we are created in His image that we are even capable of love, but are we limited in our ability to love? Can we love fully in our own strength? I’ve come to the conclusion only in my own experiences that we can only love better and more fully with the Lord’s strength. I figure if we all had the capability of loving like we should there wouldn’t be so much hatred, racism, bullying, discrimination, assaults etc. We wouldn’t have such a problem with those kinds of issues if we all could love genuinely and fully in our own strength. Seeing so much hatred all around the world and in all of history, we can be certain we are incapable of loving like we should.
The one thing the Lord has shown me in the few years I've sought Him has been my true motives for loving others. I never saw selfishness in my own heart prior to seeking the Lord, but as I seek Him He never fails to point out how selfish I really am ......He has shown me that I often love for selfish reasons. I love sometimes to feel love back or to feel good inside, or because I want people to like me, but what God is teaching me is…. genuine love isn’t selfish, but rather selfless. I should love out of concern for others rather than loving for my own needs. I shouldn't love only when it feels good, but should love regardless if there's anything in it for me. YIKES….Now that seems almost impossible!
I am often made aware of my selfish love when I find it easier to love my kids when they are behaving, but when they start talking back or saying mean things to me my love isn’t so patient and kind anymore. I find it easy to love my husband when he is loving to me, but when he is irritable and doesn't show love to me, I find it becomes far more difficult to love him back. My love is often controlled by circumstances and is selfish. When it doesn’t benefit me It's not easy to love. Can I learn to love when it’s not easy? Can I learn to love unselfishly? Can I learn to love regardless of circumstances? I know it’s not possible to love perfectly, but one thing that drives me to seek the Lord so desperately is to be able to love like Him. I want to love fully and I want my kindness to be genuine. I want to be able to see past people’s hatred and rather have the eyes to see their desperate hurting soul. I want to show genuine love to all people, but over and over again I find myself loving the people that are easiest to love.
#ChangeMyHeartLord #HelpMeToLOVEBetter #LessOFMeFather #MoreOfYou
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
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