Unleash the Good Life at WorkSample

Unleashing Kindness and Gentleness

Paul tells us that when we love others as ourselves we fulfill the entire law. It’s that simple. Love naturally motivates us to encourage and honor others, work with integrity, show compassion, and be concerned for the needs of others. There are obviously many ways we need to demonstrate love, but when loving others is our highest priority, the desire to do those other things will be strong.

If only it were that easy. We still live in the in-between where sin continues to exist. Opportunities to be offended occur every day. Mistakes happen and complicate things for us or simply cause more work. But one of our greatest opportunities, if not the greatest, is to show Christ’s love by extending kindness and forgiveness to those who have hurt us, caused problems or let us down rather than being angry. 

When we blame others or hold a grudge, we put ourselves in the place of God and essentially block the work of the Holy Spirit in the situation. As people who have sinned and continue to sin ourselves, we have to remember that God has forgiven us much and shown us great kindness. We have a responsibility to extend that same loving kindness to others. 

To unleash kindness and gentleness, we need to: 

• Trust God to be the ultimate judge. God is the only one who can judge and bring justice to any situation. 
• Surrender feelings of bitterness, anger and malice to the Lord. Ask Him to take those feelings from you and give you a tender heart toward those who have hurt you. 
• Forgive others as Christ forgave you. Put the hurt or issue in perspective and remember how much you have been forgiven. Choose to forgive. 
• Demonstrate kindness. Treat others with kindness, gentleness and respect. You may win someone over for Christ.

God has given us His Holy Spirit to empower us so that we are able to forgive and to love others as ourselves. When we do, we will not only experience His peace, but we will share Christ’s love so others can gain a view of God’s kingdom.

Prayer

Father, thank you for forgiving me of my sins. Help me, Lord, to forgive others when they cause me pain. Empower me to love others even under tough circumstances by demonstrating kindness and gentleness toward them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.