Be Kind

By Andrew Cascio

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
Matthew 5:44 NIV

I saw a lady with a shirt on that said “Be kind to everyone”. I jokingly asked her, “Am I supposed to be kind to mean people too?” She said “Yes”. I said “Hmmm it sure sounds like something from the Bible”. Then I mentioned this verse to her. It opened up a conversation and I was able to minister to her a bit. It’s easier said than done, that’s for sure. I mean being nice to people who are nice to us seems like it should be easy. However, what about those who are mean to us? Maybe those who make fun of us, pester us, treat us nasty, or poke at us because of our faith? Well, according to Jesus, we are to pray for them and love them. If it’s good enough for Jesus, I think it should be good enough for us, don’t you?!?

The fact of the matter is, the more we love on people, the more we are nice to them, the more we forgive them for wrongdoings, the more we point them to Christ. You never know who’s watching. Perhaps someone sees you be nice to someone that they know is mean to you. When you act the right way and treat the situation with love, and they see it, perhaps they think to themselves “Well if they can do that, maybe I can too”. You never know what kinds of seeds you are sowing just by your actions and what other people observe in you.

Perhaps think about someone who has wronged you, someone who has hurt you. Pray for them, show them love and compassion through your prayer, and see what God reveals to you and what you learn. You never know what can happen when you decide to let something go, the enemy will no longer have a hold over you in that situation. The blessing that you will get from it will far exceed the negative emotions you’ve been holding on to. Today, choose to be kind, choose to love, even if the people don’t seem to deserve it. After all, we don’t deserve the mercy and grace we receive from Christ, but he gives it to us anyway!