You never know what someone is going through.
The single mother in the grocery aisle with five kids crying cannot pay her bills and just found out she lost her job. She does not feel beautiful and has come to the belief that she is not worthy. The student who never talks in class and tends to be rude and brusque comes from a broken home. His parents just got a divorce and his dad is with him physically, but mentally his dad is absent. He does not know his purpose, and he thinks that because he is hurting it is not fair to see others with healing. The waitress spilt the drinks, but what you don’t know is that she is working three jobs, she doesn’t know how she will pay her rent and is doubting if God even exists. She goes through the motions and does not believe that God has more in store for her. The guy at the red light waits 10 seconds after it turns green and you honk and yell because he didn’t go fast enough for you. But what you don’t know is that he just found out that his wife of 30 years has cancer, and sadness is weighing down on his heart. The girl on the bus picks on everyone and points out their flaws, but what you don’t see is that at home she has a father who points out her every mistake and tells her that she is not good enough, and she responds by imitating what her father says to her daily…
You never know what someone is going through. Everyone is going through a battle that you know nothing about, a battle of sadness, a battle of insecurity, a battle of brokenness, a battle of bitterness, a battle of fear…a battle of the enemy pulling every string in order to steal, kill, and destroy the their passion and their grasp of beloved truth.
You are the light of the world. You are the messenger of truth. You are the bringer of hope. You are the distributor of His joy. You are the passer outer of His compassion. You are the deliverer of God’s unchanging promises. You are the representative of the Lord’s peace that surpasses all understanding. You are the ambassador of His love that never fails.
You never know what someone is going through. When someone treats you disrespectfully, when they stir your impatience, when they turn a cold shoulder, when they have distracting and aggravating grocery trips, when the girl laughs at you for who you are…it is not about you. This is not a time for you to get caught up in yourself, but I pray that you make this be a time that you remember how God so loved you, and because he so loved you, you have been called to so love them…
My darling, our battle is not against flesh and blood, and rather than responding the way the world and the way that your flesh so wants to, take yourself out of yourself. By picking up your cross and following Jesus, you will see that it is nothing about you, but instead it is what Jesus wants to do through you. Keep being kind. His love never fails. His love tells the single mom that she is beautiful and helps her find all that she needs. His love tells the student that they are cared for and asks if there is any way that they can be helped. His love helps clean up her drinks and tells her how appreciated she is. His love tells her that He has plans to prosper her and not to harm her, plans to give her a hope and a future. His love is kind and it leaves a big tip…just because…not for anything in return…but just because you love her…because He loves her. His love is patient and selflessly waits because we are here for something far greater than a traffic light. His love is eternal. His love chooses to not keep a record of wrongs, but rather, His love smiles at the girl who is hurtful on the bus because his love knows that deep within she herself is hurting. His love tells her that she is enthralling and His love sits beside her and asks her how she is doing-despite her reaction, love delights in the truth. His love speaks truth over the hurting heart that only knows of the lies that she is told daily. His love never fails. Keep being kind. Even when you may not see the outcome instantly, day by day lives upon lives are waking up knowing that they are worthy. Lives upon lives are walking in joy because they know that they have a purpose. Lives upon lives are walking in freedom. Why? Because you chose to see through the eyes of God. Because, in Christ you did not judge when everyone else was laughing. Because you made the choice to love. Because you chose to keep being kind. How? Because God is love, and when you choose to love, you have just been the introducer of the Lord to a soul that He so loves, and they just don’t know Him yet. You have just introduced them into the most divine and favored and real relationship that they could ever have. Keep being kind. God is using you to change the world.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poorand give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. {1 Corinthians 13:4-8}
Keep being kind;)
cheerfulchitchats 