Devotions on Kindness by Steven Curtis ChapmanНамуна

Day 3

We often forget this, I know I do…but God has always treated us better than we deserve. We are all sinners, all guilty before Him. And the fact that He doesn’t let the weight of judgment for all of our sins against Him fall fully on us is an act of grace-filled kindness. God kindly and continuously reaches past the lines we draw with our sin and disobedience, and waits for us to confess and repent…and when we do, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness as 1 John 1:9 tells us.

If you’ve come to the place, at some point in your life, where you’ve realized you have nothing to offer God, turned away from your sins, and trusted Christ to save you, you have done that only because of God’s kindness. He loves us and wants us to come to Him, to know Him, and trust Him. We tend to think of God’s kindness in relation to the circumstances He allows that make our lives on earth seem “blessed.” But His greatest act of kindness is that “while we were still sinners,” God actively withheld His anger toward sin (Romans 5:8). His kindness leads to our repentance and our salvation.

And God’s kindness in reaching past the lines and leading us to repentance compels us to reach past the lines we create in our earthly relationships. If we want to have any kind of influence in the world as followers of Jesus, we need to walk the way Jesus did, which was the way of kindness. That doesn’t mean we take on an attitude of “Whatever works for you is good. You do you; I’ll do me.” That wasn’t the way Jesus related to people. He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). So, Jesus didn’t water down the truth; He stood firm in truth. And yet, everybody wanted to be around Jesus because He related to them in kindness. In fact, those who were most broken and needy were drawn to the kindness and love they experienced in the One who was the embodiment of truth. In his book, “Love Kindness,” which I highly recommend, Barry Corey does a beautiful job of explaining this as having a “firm center with soft edges”. Will you join me and let’s look for opportunities to reach past the lines today and walk in the way of kindness.

• Read Romans 2:1-3. What relational issue among believers prompted Paul to write verse 4? What lines were being drawn?
• Read John 1:14. Based on this description of Jesus, how can you define what it means to relate to people in kindness?
• Thank God for His kindness to you that you do not deserve. Ask Him to help you reach past the lines you and others have drawn so that, as you stand in the truth of His Word, you will also walk in the way of His kindness.