Faithbase

Hey, folks, I hope you're doing well today. We are talking about kindness. Love is kind. At the surface, this might seem really obvious, right? Of course, love is kind. What does that mean exactly? I want to approach this a little bit from the opposite side here, and I want you to consider this. If you want to know the places of your life that are the most broken, that most need Christ's redemption, look at the places, the people, the context for where it is difficult to love, to where it is difficult to be kind. I've been reading through this book called The Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren, and I would highly recommend it. She describes in one of her chapters about this fight that she has with her husband. On the surface, it's about her and her daughter's schooling, but if you take a deeper look, there's layers there that are about their dreams and hopes for their daughter, and the fears that they have of this and that. Not just last week, my wife and I got in an argument about the way I'm spending my time, and can I get things done at home that normally I should be able to get done, and why aren't I getting it done. I was defensive and talking about all these things I've got going on, but there's always layers. There's deeper things going on, and it gets difficult to be kind. That's what I'm saying. There's times where being kind is really hard. The way that Tish Harrison Warren puts it, she says, the truth is that she gets along with most people pretty well. When I do have conflict, it is usually with the people I love most. Isn't that funny? Who are the people that you have a difficult time being kind to? Is it an in-law? Is it the people who seem to always kind of get what they want? Is it people who have a particular struggle? People who do something that just particularly bug you? What is it that makes it difficult for you to be kind to others? I want you to consider that today. This is an important part of loving one another, and our Lord is so kind and gracious to us. Let's lean into that. Let's take this to prayer.