Try a Little Kindness

Do you remember that Glen Campbell song from back in the day?  "You got to try a little kindness. Yes, show a little kindness. Just shine your light for everyone to see......"

It's an old song, but certainly applicable here in our "modern" era!  We could use a little more kindness these days.

In these days of government shut-downs.  Of strong opinions on all sides of that issue.  Of government-mandated healthcare.  Of more strong opinions about that.  Of unemployment and underemployment and financial struggles.  Of staggering government debt.  And that doesn't even take into account the struggles in individual families and relationships about all sorts of other things.

With social media and the internet, and the lack of accountability that comes with them, it seems that people feel free to say whatever jumps into their minds, often without even the filter of common sense.  We seem to feel that any comment we make to a Facebook post or anything we tweet, no matter how hurtful or unkind or even untrue, is OK because we are never held accountable.

But the words we type on our phones and computers and I-pads are no different than the words that come out of our mouths. And so we need to be careful about what we say and how we say it. 

We're cautioned in the New Testament book of James about the power of words and the power of the tongue that utters them.  "The tongue is a small member, yet boasts of great things......the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.....With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.....From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  My brothers, these things ought not to be so."  (James 3:5a,6,9-10 ESV)

And Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians that what comes out of our mouths should be "only such as is good for building up."  (Ephesians 4:29 ESV).

Which means we're faced with quite a challenge, aren't we?  In these days of frustration and confusion and turmoil, it isn't easy to keep our mouths shut.  To speak only things that are encouraging, that build others up.  To be kind.

In fact, when our job is deemed non-essential, or when we can't watch our favorite TV show, or when we're layed off, or when our pay is cut, or .........
(fill in the blank with your particular situation), kind words are probably not our first choice!  We're frustrated.  We're upset.  We're angry.  We're feeling anything but kind.

Here's the challenge for all of us today, right in the middle of our frustrations.......try a little kindness.  Speak words that build up rather than tear down.  And as that great theologian Thumper (!!!!) once said, "if you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nuthin'!"

Because, wouldn't you agree, as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we want to honor Him with our lives.   With our behavior.  With our words.  Yes, we want to stand firm for what we believe.  But let's do it in a way that honors Him.

"Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me."  (Psalm 69:6 ESV)

"my earnest expectation and hope......that Christ will even now, as always, be exalted........" (Philippians 1:20 NASB)