Evening Encouragement, Examples

The Bible teach us many lessons of how to properly love on this earth and treat each other but sometimes, although we understand the stories, we often miss the point. Jesus was the greatest teacher ever, teaching us about the kingdom of God through his stories and parables. Some we have dedicated to memory because we have taken them to heart. But sometimes we miss the best teaching of Jesus…His loving example. The way he lived was the best example to show us how to be. And there are days when our humanness crushes that example, like today. Today…Gladys came forth. Gladys was my mother and bigger than life itself sometimes.

My family is loving, generous, respected and by all standards good people…but Christ is not at its center. And it makes an astounding difference regardless of how good you try to by yourself. If you had ever heard of the intensity, strength or “Don’t you dare” attitude of women from the southern US, I will be the first to tell you its a real thing. And while we now laugh about some of the stories and examples we were shown, I cringe from some of the borderline meanness I witnessed due to the misunderstand of who Christ was and what he really asks of us. When Christ was here, he knew what people had faced and what generations later would still face so he left us parables to help guide us along the way to a true and gentle heart. Matthew 13 tells the parable of the sower and the soils as an example of receiving the words from God.

As we go and grow through our lives, it is important to establish our center love “Rock” so that we can stand firm and radiate the love of Christ in all we do. Do we fall off that rock, yes, daily sometimes, but with Christ, we know how to get back on top.

Across the internet, there is a group called RAK, which stand for Random Acts of Kindness that promotes millions of ways to show kindness to others. For those of us who are Christ followers, we know that kindness is one of the fruits of the spirit. I love this picture from Beth Moore about Kindness…