Daily Devotion – Kindness is an Inside Job

I thought I was kind for the most part. I mean, I don’t yell at people, I tip waiters, I hold my tongue in public, I smile a lot, and I always respect those who serve me.

But then my son asked me a question one day that got me wondering if perhaps there was more to this kindness thing. “Are you really kind?” He asked. “Or are you just fearful? If you had the courage to do and say what you’re thinking would you still be so kind?”

That got me thinking about all of the times I’ve thought to myself, “I should have said this…” or “I should have said that…” All of those times when I wished I would have stood my ground and snapped back… And with that I see what a foolish hypocrite I’ve been.

When Paul instructs the church to be kind, he starts by reminding us that kindness is an inside job. In other words, we’ve got some weeding to do in this garden we call love:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32, NIV)

If we’re kind on the outside and rotten on the inside, we’re no different than the Pharisees who lived by the letter of the law yet neglected the more important things of God like mercy and kindness and love. They were careful to clean the outside of their cups, but inside they were full of greed and self-indulgence.

“Clean the inside of the cup.” Jesus said, “And then the outside will also be clean.” (Matthew 23:26)

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Tilling the Soil

Read Matthew 23:1-27 where Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

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Darlene Schacht and her husband Michael live in Manitoba Canada where the summers are beautiful and the winters are cold. Together they’ve come to learn that relationships aren’t always easy, but that marriage, the way God intended it to be, is a treasure worth fighting for.

She began her publishing journey about twelve years ago when she pioneered one of the first online magazines for Christian women, known at the time as “Christian Women Online Magazine.” After three years, Darlene left CWO to blog as a solo author at Time-Warp Wife Ministries.

It was also during this transition that she worked alongside actress Candace Cameron Bure to write the NYT Best-Selling book, Reshaping it All: Motivation for Spiritual and Physical Fitness. Reshaping it All was the winner of both the 2011 USA Best Book Awards and the 2012 Christian Reading Retailers Choice Awards.

Author of more than 15 books, Darlene continues to write and to minister to her readers through her blog at TimeWarpWife.com.