Scriptures About Kindness

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Scriptures About Kindness

I’ve written previously about kindness and unity. Scriptures abound about how we should display kindness as a quality and character trait of being a Christian and follower of Jesus. There are also numerous scriptures about how God is kind. (Hence, if we are children of God, we should follow suit.) In this post, I thought I’d create a resource page by compiling a list of scriptures about kindness and how we are called to be kind. In addition, I’ve included a list of scriptures about the kindness of God.

Next week’s post will contain some practical application to these scriptures. We’ll discuss characteristics of kindness and what it might look like in action, WHY we should be kind, and HOW to be kind (especially when it’s not easy or might not come naturally). All of those things will be based upon the foundations of these scriptures in this post.

Scriptures About Kindness

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:12-15 (ESV)

“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:24-25 (NLT)

“Your kindness should be known to all!” Philippians 4:5 (NAB)

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

“We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love.” 2 Corinthians 6:6 (NLT)

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

“Do to others as you would like them to do to you.” Luke 6:31 (NLT) Continue reading →

What’s Stopping You From Running the Race?

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What’s Stopping You From Running the Race?

What’s Stopping You From Running the Race?

*Repost: Originally posted 5/12/2015

Do you ever have those weeks where you just feel like you’re running a race?  OK…so I’m going to be completely honest with you and tell you that what I had originally intended to post this week isn’t completely finished yet.  We have definitely been “running the race” in our household lately!  It has been pretty busy with the end of school nearing for my kids including all of their end-of-the-year activities.  College finals were this past week for both my husband, Eric (taking his—FOR THE VERY LAST TIME!!!) and for me (giving finals and getting my course grades finished up and posted).

We also had my sister-in-law’s graduation for her Master’s degree, along with an array of other goings-on…baseball (when it wasn’t raining), church meetings, my niece’s band concert, a teacher conference, and a birthday party which included a full-blown panic attack and angry momma-bear incident by me when my son fell off of a platform without railing head-first while playing at a local paintball complex.  Thankfully, my son is fine and was obviously protected by angels because he could have easily broken his neck the way he fell.

On a positive note though, we have been super excited to be preparing for Eric’s graduation this week!  WOOT WOOT ERIC!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!  I don’t know who is more excited…me or Eric?  His degree has been 11 years in the making (due to only being able to take 2 classes at a time while working full-time and supporting a family), so he’s been running the race for quite some time now in that arena.  He’s worked really hard for it, so he is probably a little more excited than I am. 🙂

A reminder about our races

Then, with Mother’s Day this past weekend, “running the race” seems like an understatement.  I’m sure many of you can empathize with all of the busyness of this time of year.  Instead of trying to rush and finish my original post, I decided to pull something that I wrote several years back.  That’s the benefit of writing things down and saving them for a rainy day (quite literally here in Oklahoma lately).  It actually seemed to suit the occasion quite well too because I had entitled it “Running the Race”.

In honor of Eric running the race and finishing up to move on to another, and in honor of all of YOU who are also running the race in a variety of ways, here is a reminder that I had about running the race… Continue reading →

Funny Friday: A nap and a snack

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A nap and snack meme

Funny Friday: A nap and a snack

“This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like, “God, I’m so mad! I want to die!” So God said, “Here’s some food. Why don’t you have a nap?” So Elijah slept, ate, and decided things weren’t so bad. Never underestimate the spiritual power of a nap and a snack.” ~Courtesy of Joy Marie Clarkson, @joynessthebrave

“Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.” Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. Then the angel of the LORD came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.” 1 Kings 19:3-9 (NLT)

Mistakes Can Turn Into Success

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Mistakes Can Turn Into Success. Look at these examples of bad turned good…

Mistakes Can Turn Into Success:  Look at these examples of bad turned good…

In a previous post, we talked about how our failures and mistakes can contribute to some of our insecurities.  We tend to beat ourselves up for the mistakes we make.  It never ceases to amaze me though how God can take our disobedience and mistakes and turn them into something beautiful.  He can take something that I completely messed up and then turn it around to be a blessing to me and to others.  

God can take our disobedience and mistakes and turn them into something beautiful.

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Did you know there are several products and inventions that came from mistakes?  To name a few…the Slinky, Penicillin, plastic, chocolate chip cookies (thank goodness for this mistake!), potato chips, the pacemaker, silly putty, safety glass, microwave ovens, corn flakes, Post-it notes (another one of my favorites!), x-rays, superglue, popsicles, vulcanized rubber (i.e. tires), and matches.  Here’s a fun read about the 20 Most Fascinating Accidental Inventions all originating from mistakes.  I personally believe many of these mistakes turned success were probably God-inspired.  There are stories throughout the Bible of mistakes turned success too.

God turned Jonah’s mistake into a success

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Funny Friday: Rinse Cycle

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Rinse Cycle meme

Funny Friday: Rinse Cycle

My sister replied to my earlier post this week about recognizing God’s voice telling me that she had a Funny Friday story that would fit perfectly. She told me that she and my nephew were heading home from Wal-Mart recently when they had this conversation…

One day when it was raining…

My sister to my nephew: “The sky is spitting.”

My nephew: “Why?”

My sister: “I don’t know. Ask God.”

My nephew says a quick prayer asking God.

My sister: “What did God say?”

My nephew: “I’m not sure. I asked God for a sign.”

Then they passed a sign, “Welcome to Coweta.”

My sister: “Is that it?”

My nephew: “No.”

Then they pass a car wash.

My sister: “Is that sign it?”

Then at just that moment the digital sign scrolled and read…

“Rinse cycle.”

“…It will be washed off by the rain…” Ezekiel 13:11 (ISV)

How to Recognize God’s Voice

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Learn how to recognize God's voice

Image Credit: ohmega1982 via FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How to Recognize God’s Voice

“Then he (Jesus) added, ‘Pay close attention to what you hear.  The closer you listen the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more.’”  Mark 4:24 (NLT)

I previously shared a post on What Does God’s Voice Sound Like?  I’d like to share some more tips on how to learn and recognize God’s voice.  God’s voice becomes more familiar as we grow in relationship with Him.

God’s voice becomes more familiar as we grow in relationship with Him.

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This is very similar to meeting a new friend.  At first, we probably don’t recognize their voice very well, and they have to introduce themselves when they call on the phone.  However, the longer we are friends and the more time we spend with them (and hear them talk), the easier it is to recognize their voice.  Eventually, they won’t even have to say who they are or introduce themselves.

I didn’t recognize my husband on our first date

The more time spent with someone makes them more familiar and more recognizable.  My husband, Eric, just loves to tell the story (aka make fun of me 🙂 ) about the time we went on our first “official” date.  I went to meet him at a mall.  He was waiting outside the front door for me, and I walked right past him because I didn’t recognize him.  We hadn’t known each other very long in my defense, and he DID have a baseball hat on pulled down low over his eyes!  Nevertheless, he will NEVER let me live it down.

I shudder to think of all the times I must have done the EXACT same thing to God—walk right past Him due to not recognizing Him when He was standing right in front of me.

It’s getting easier for me to recognize God’s voice the more I mature and the closer I get to God.  In hindsight, I wish I would have learned to recognize God’s voice a lot sooner.  I can look back on my life now and see poor choices and/or missed opportunities where I had a “red flag” but didn’t realize at the time that God was speaking to me.  Some things that I’ve learned along the way are the “What”, the “When”, the “How” and the “Why” of God speaking.  My goal is to share a few of these things with you in hopes that you too can learn to recognize God’s voice so that you might miss fewer opportunities or make fewer poor choices.

Recognize God’s Voice in WHAT to listen for: Continue reading →