Kindness is Strength
Do you ever ask God to show you how to go out of your way to be kind?
Verse of the Day
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.“
Today’s Devotional
These two verses come from the parable of the Good Samaritan. I believe that the gravity of the kind acts of the Samaritan are lost on us today. We cannot quite fathom the kind of disdain that the Jews and Samaritans had for each other. Even still, this Samaritan man chose to go out of his way to help a fellow human.
Make no mistake about it, choosing to act in kindness toward others is one of the strongest things you can do as a human. Kindness is more inconvenient than politeness or adhering to social norms. Kindness is bigger than that.
Look at the man from these verses. He was clearly on a journey of his own. Stopping to help a half-dead enemy along his path was not on his “to-do” list for that day. But there is a beautiful progression to the kindness of this story. First, the Samaritan SAW the man in need. He didn’t see the Jew. He didn’t see the enemy. He saw the man. And after he saw, HE FELT. He literally had compassion for a fellow human who was hurting. Next, he ACTED. The Samaritan went to the Jew. He closed the gap between them by his acts of service and kindness.
I’m not sure how often you use olive oil, or how often you participate in bandaging wounds. But the thing I notice next in this story is that choosing kindness can be messy. Helping others to clean up a mess in their lives is going to be messy and complicated. And yet Jesus asks us to do it anyway.
Lastly, it’s important to note that kindness can be costly. The Samaritan encountered a cost of time, money, and perhaps esteem. Whether it’s money, time, attention, or some other commodity in our lives, choosing active kindness will always cost us something. And yet Jesus asks us to do it anyway. Probably because all of those resources came from God in the first place.
There is strength in going out of our way to be kind to someone else. I had a stranger do something really kind for me in the grocery store the other day. And it made my day. I have a few people in my life who are so treasured because they choose, repeatedly, to take time out of their lives to speak truth to me. That is kindness. There is a beautiful, quiet, unassuming strength in choosing kindness. It’s the kind of strength that does not need to be recognized. It’s the kind of strength that does the right actions no matter who is (or is not) looking. Kindness is beautiful. And only the strong are willing to go out of their way for kindness.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
What is something truly kind that has been done for you? How did this affect you?
How can you ask God to help you to see the suffering of others?
How can you allow yourself to have compassion for the suffering of others?
How does your strength from God affect your ability to be kind?
Are you willing to ask God to show you who needs kindness today, even if it is costly and messy?