#TPWK *

Psalm 63:3-4 (NKJ) —

‘Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name.’

As we plant into Christ Church Summerfield, we have three values Kindness, Commitment and Courage. Today I’d like to invite you to think about what it is to treat people with kindness.

‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind’- I love this quote. It reminds me that how we are remembered by others is not by what we say or do, but how we make them feel.Kindness is a choice and it changes how those around us feel.

Often kindness is underestimated, or even considered to be a weak thing, but that’s not how the Bible describes it. In Psalm 63:3 it says, ‘because your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you’. That word, lovingkindness, 'hasdeka', can be translated in a few different ways: as steadfast love, unfailing love, or faithful love. The word ‘kindness’ in the Bible describes God’s love for us. It’s certainly not about weakness or just being nice. There’s a wildness to the kindness of God. A wildness to the grace we don’t deserve. It’s a kindness that seeks us out in the wilderness to bring us home.

It’s this lovingkindness that Jesus calls us into. It’s not a nice easy sort of kindness, but hasdeka, a radical kindness, a covenant kindness, a truth-filled kindness.

Prayer— Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your lovingkindness to me.

Sometimes I find it hard to offer that same kindness to others.

Teach me how to be radically kind.

* #Treat People With Kindness