When my oldest daughter was in preschool her Sunday school teacher taught the students a memory verse each week. The verse she was learning was Ephesians 4:32: “And be ye kind one to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”. We had a black cat named Charlie that my daughter loved. One day that week she tried picking up the cat and Charlie promptly swiped at her and scratched my daughter on the arm. She dropped the cat and quoted her memory verse to Charlie. She wagged her little finger in the cat’s face and said: “be ye kind one to another”.
I have found that cats are not the only creatures who need to be rebuked by this kindness verse. We often are guilty of scratching others with our words, our attitudes and our actions. We say things to people that tear them down. We lash out in anger with our hurtful accusations, negative comments, and angry rants. These words often leave a scratch mark on others. We also can demonstrate unkindness by our rude behavior or even a demeaning scowl.
We need to create kindness zones in our lives. Our homes and our churches need to have an unwritten sign above the door that reads: “kindness spoken here”. Everyone needs to be encouraged and loved. Everyone is treated respectfully and valued. We should expand that kindness zone to our daily walk into this cruel and hurtful world. We who have been forgiven by Christ and have become His followers need to look to our Lord who is the supreme example of kindness. He was kind to a sinful woman and told her to go and sin no more. He was kind to the thoughtless disciples. He was even kind to those who were crucifying Him and said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.
There are too many catfights, cruel words, and just plain meanness in our world. We who have tasted the forgiveness of Christ need to hang a sign above us saying: “kindness spoken here”.
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