I Am Kind - Oh My Journey

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What does it mean to be kind? Is it just doing nice things for others; asking them about their day and actually listening to the response, buying them a cup of coffee, encouraging them when they need it? Or is it something deeper? Something that doesn’t feel natural but rather a skill that is developed?

Can you be kind at all times? How about when you have driven for 7 hours in a tiny rental car, hitting all the potholes, in the dark, without a real meal since last night and it’s now 8pm, with your foreign cousin who keeps asking you obvious questions, and a pounding headache. Can you still be kind than? Was your answer yes? Well, what about all those things plus finally getting to your destination and realizing your airbnb host gave you the wrong code for the keypad. And of course they aren’t responding to any of your text or picking up the phone. Not to mention that you have zero reception and it’s freezing cold, like 40 degrees with a 6000ft elevation. CAN YOU BE KIND EVEN THEN??? I couldn’t.

I didn’t know how to be kind. I only knew how to be hard and bitter. But I wanted to be kind. Because I didn’t like what I was feeling. I didn’t want this hard bitter feeling to stay. So I thought about the Fruits of the Spirit and about love.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23

“Love is patient, love is kind.”
1 Corinthians 13:4a

And I looked at the word kind/gentleness in the Blue Letter Bible and here is what it said:

Kind: Easy, good, gracious, better, mild, pleasant. Not harsh, hard, sharp, bitter.

“For my yoke is easy.”
Matthew 11:30

In the moment of it all, I didn’t know I was being unkind. I thought that I was having a proper reaction to everything that was happening. But I knew that I didn’t feel right. That something was amiss. So I asked God to reveal it to me and the word I got was Kind. Who knew that I was being unkind, lol. God knew. He showed me what was in my heart and I was able to call it and see it for what it was. After that and a good night’s sleep I was finally able to journal it out and declare that, ‘I am Kind.’ Because that is what my Father calls me. And ultimately, I do want to be kind and keep joy and peace. Not bitterness, not anger, and certainly not unforgiveness; a bitter root.

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What have you been declaring over yourself recently?
Is there an emotion or situation that you are struggling with?
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