“The woman that I see walks in kindness, strength, and dignity and confers worth on every person she encounters.”
I think this might be one of my favorite points so far. For one thing, I think kindness rocks! When I think of kindness, I usually think of helping the poor and needy. But it’s really more general than that. Kindness is just this very simple way that we can behave — it’s friendliness, sympathy, generosity, considerateness, putting others first, good manners — all those things wrapped up into this gracious and beautiful way of being. And it is a fruit of the Spirit.
I think walking in kindness starts with having an inner sense of strength and dignity — a sense of quiet rest in God’s ability to care for us. Our trust in His love for us gives a sense of strength and dignity that we can then confer upon other people. I love the idea that when we are drawing from God’s strength and from His love for us, we can confer — or bestow — that value on others as a gift.
Throughout our lives we will encounter many people who do not have the sense of strength and dignity that knowing our amazing Father brings. We have the capacity to bless the people we meet with the gift of value by showing them kindness. Kindness doesn’t have to be a grand getsure. It can be found in the small things:
- stopping to look at someone in the eye when they are talking to us
- letting another person get that perfect parking spot
- letting the mom with a screaming toddler go ahead of you in the check out line
- pulling in your neighbor’s garbage cans after the morning pick up
- taking the time to write a note and tell someone that you think they did a great job
Small kindnesses, little by little and over time, have the potential to soften hearts and lift a person’s vision of what he or she can be. What opportunities for showing kindness await you today?
4 Comments
Kerri, this ties so well to Pastor Groeschel’s message on Sunday (Lord Make us One), because I can’t think of a better way to dispel that public perception of both Christians and Christianity than to “kill ‘em with kindness”….LOL. Seriously, these small acts of kindness are truly what described the early church.
I love this one too! Walking in kindness is something I strive to instill in my daughters. I want you to know, Pastor Kerri, that this is something you have instilled in Kaylan. After spending the weekend at camp with her, John and I discussed how we would love for our daughters to resemble Kaylan. A particular example was after SHINE, she made it a point to come up to my daughter, Hannah, and tell her what a great job she did as a butterfly. As a tween, to stop what she was doing and encourage a little one…AMAZING! Thank you Pastor Kerri for raising your children to be an example of walking in kindness. Love you!
Can I just say, that you Pastor Kerri, have inspired us gals to live a life of generosity and kindness! You live in the realm of giving strength and placing value on others, and this has a ripple effect, because I seen and experienced the kindness of the women in this house and it’s HUGE! Thank you for sharing your heart with us, your blog rocks : ) Loves!
Lea, Carrie and Debs — thanks so much for all of your encouraging comments. Carrie , I am so proud of Kaylan, too. Thank you for taking time to say something so positive about her.