The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading PlanSample

Choose Kindness

*What are some choices that you make every day?

*What is it like to be around a person who likes to start arguments and pick fights?

When Paul writes that we should not be quarrelsome, he means that we should not be running around picking unnecessary fights. Instead, we should be kind to others. The Lord’s servants — that’s us! — are supposed to be peaceful. We are supposed to work to promote peace, not conflict.

Kindness is a choice. We need to choose to be kind. Our natural tendency might often be to argue instead of being kind, but this doesn’t make it okay. In every encounter we have throughout the day, we have a choice: We can be kind or we can be unkind. We can choose to get along or we can pick a fight. God wants us to choose kindness.

What about when people are unkind to us? What about those times when people are quarrelsome? Even in those instances, we are to choose kindness. We can walk away from conflict. Kindness is always an option.

Prayer

Dear God, please help us to honor you by choosing kindness. Amen.

Taken from Once a Day At the Table