Love is Kind

This seems a kinda obvious thing to say. Love is kind. Well duh, if you love someone, you're gonna be nice to them, right? Well, think about it I love my brother (in a non dodgy sense I'd like to point out). but if people saw us, would they think that? Am I really kind to my brother, do I treat him nicely? Well, not really, not all the time certainly.

Often we hurt those we love most. Often you argue most with those you're really close to. Two friends of mine would constantly argue, bicker, fall out, but everyone knew it wasn't going to last long, that within a day or two they'd be friends again. I never really thought of them separately, they were that close. I know it's not always the case, but think about it. Aren't you often kinder to strangers, more polite to those you hardly ever see or speak to?

Why is that I wonder? I think part of it is that we feel you can be more at ease with friends, but is arguing really being 'at ease'?

Having said that, kindness doesn't always mean not arguing. Being kind can involve discipline and forceful words, and yes, arguments. If I saw a friend doing something I knew was going to hurt them, I'd be unkind if I didn't tell them, so don't think the idea is that you should be a doormat. That's not the point at all. The point is that we rarely show people how much we care about them, and that we're rarely all that kind to our friends and family. One day, and you're probably fed up of various people throwing this at you, you're liable to wake up and they won't be there. And then will you regret that you didn't show them the kindness that says you love them.

In 1 Corinthians 13 (you've probably heard it at weddings), Paul talks about love as a way. Love is a way of life. Being kind to people is part of htat way of life.

How can you show it? You don't have to buy flowers to show a loved one you care (and in case you hadn't realised already, I'm not just talking about loving your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse here, I'm talking about hte friendship kind of love too, and hte loving your enemies kind of love, but more on that bit later). It comes more from your actions, from the words. Out of hte overflow of hte heart, hte mouth speaks. If you care about someone, give them a bit of encouragement. Say, 'hey, that's cool', tell them they're a great person. Even if you don't feel it, you can change your heart, lead your emotions, by speaking it out. The tongue is like hte steering wheel of a truck. It's pretty small by comparison, but it decides which way the whole thing goes.

God's crackers about you.