I was reading through Luke chapter 6, a chapter full of wise and practical life lessons for Believers. Verse 35 says, But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High... There is enough meat in these words alone to do a blog series of 10 weeks! But this time, my eyes were drawn to the concluding words Jesus gave, words I haven't heard too many sermons on, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
He (God) is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Is this the picture we have of God? Is this the picture people see when they see us? Often we have this image of a God who is cruel to the wicked and maybe even punishes Believers who have done wicked things. But Jesus, who knows the Father best, tells us something else. God is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. What a lesson to learn! Are we kind to the ungrateful and wicked?
God = love and 1 Corinthians 13:4 says that love is kind. It is Gods nature to be kind. What about us? The Bible teaches that kindness benefits people. Proverbs 11:17 says it simply like this, A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself. I don't think we would call ourselves cruel, but the question today is: are we kind? Not necessarily to our kind of people, but to the ungrateful and wicked.
Kindness is fruit (Galatians 5:22) that the Holy Spirit wants to produce in our lives, so that we will become more and more like Him. How can we grow in this area? By being kind to the ungrateful and wicked people that cross our path every day! That is a challenge we must take up if we truly want to be called sons and daughters of God.
I am the Lord, who exercises kindness... [Jeremiah 9:24]
"...He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." Marja, you're killing me...and that's a good thing.;) Sigh...urgh...ouch...I have to go now, must die some more.
ReplyDeleteLove and blessings.
Haha, sigh...urgh...ouch, that happened to me too!
DeleteI love it that God is kindhearted toward me.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marja. You always stir my heart.
ReplyDeleteThe scriptures that came to mind: God causes the rain to fall on the just and unjust. (Note: This was an agricultural society. Rain was a blessing and assured a good crop.)
Another verse says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Blessings,
Susan :)
Thanks for adding those scriptures Susan!
DeleteMarja, such a great exhorting post! We sometimes, or maybe all too often, forget that God will use anything to draw a soul to Himself. It may be necessary for the *wicked* to be drawn by kindness. This can be foreign to us and is something I'm sure we all need to work on since God needs us to be the outstretched hand of kindness. Thank you for your nudge to look at ourselves and try to be more like Jesus. Love you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you came by Lynn and felt nudged :)
DeleteHi, Marja:
ReplyDeleteYour words hit home for me. God, indeed, tells us that the sun He created shines on the good as often as it shines on the bad.
I like to think that I am kind generally. But toward the ungrateful and wicked? Definitely not as often to those people. I can use some growing in this area. Thank you for the reminder. :-)
God bless.