Love is Kind ~1 Corinthians 13:4

So often on Valentine’s Day, we think of girlfriends and boyfriends, husbands and wives, and people who are falling in love. I want to steer the ship in a different direction today. I am confident that Jesus’ instruction for us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31) was given as a strong command. Jesus said it was one of the great commandments with the first being to love the Lord with all your heart.
So why a different direction? I believe too many people are left out of a holiday like today because they see it as a special day for their romantic relationships. They even use verses found in 1 Corinthians 13 as God-given verses about those romantic relationships. I see them as a roadmap to successfully navigating all relationships.

Love is kindness

Kindness is something people generally struggle to show to others. In today’s world, people don’t want to get involved with people. They say they do, but fail to take the time to invest in others.

Everyone is busy with their stuff. So the meaning of kindness has been relegated to a simple Sunday morning handshake and a complimentary “How are you this morning?” Honestly, this is mostly fake. Do we care about how people are doing? Do we really care about their hurts and disappointments? If anyone ever started telling us their problems would we begin trying to look for ways to escape the conversation?

While it is true that many people care about others and are kind. It is also true that many do not. What grace-filled action will you take today? Who will be the receiver?

Love is grace-filled

Kindness is defined a grace-filled action towards someone who doesn’t necessarily deserve it. How many people do you run across every day that simply don’t deserve any grace or kindness? If you look in the mirror you’ll see someone who doesn’t deserve kindness. Did that hurt? The truth is that none of us deserve kindness, but we all enjoy receiving it.

That’s what the Lord means when he says love your neighbor as yourself. Treat them as you would like to be treated. Treat them with a gracious action even when they don’t deserve it.

On this Valentine’s day, would you let the Lord use you to show grace-filled actions towards others that would help them to feel loved?

Some Questions…

Who needs your grace-filled actions today? Who needs to see your kindness?
How can you demonstrate the kindness you want to experience with others?
Will you pray that God would give you the chance to share kindness with someone today?