Kindness--is it MORE than what we DO?...

Proverbs 31:26 ..."She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."

So, is any other woman out there trying to keep their husband from reading about this Proverbs 31 woman?  Ha! Quite intimidating sometimes when I read about "her."  Does she exist?  Whether or not she does/did is not so much my concern as how much I aspire to be like her.  I think that's it.  We should aspire to great things, set our minds towards fulfilling God-honoring things and in doing so imitate Christ in the process.  Also in our failing to be like this woman we learn that we need Christ's help to even imitate his likeness. Humbling.

It is interesting that she opens her mouth with wisdom and what comes out is a teaching of kindness on her tongue.  Kindness is typically thought of as an action, something we do or show to others.  Or we say, "She's a kind person." But, I don't often think of kindness as a form of speaking.  This woman's words, however, are characterized by wisdom and kindness. Kindness is more than what we DO for others. This woman not only chooses actions to benefit others, she also chooses words wisely to benefit others.  Ephesians 4:25-32 mentions this type of speech, ..."let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor,...let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."  She has a filter before she speaks showing self control in her choice of words.  In other words, she has a keen sense of divine utterance and divine restraint in her communication.  (This doesn't have to mean necessarily that she is not thinking some "choice words", right?!  But she restrains herself from saying them to benefit others instead of releasing her vent for selfish gain.  This doesn't mean, either, that she cowers to confront others in love and truth, but she carefully speaks truth with hopes to restore and heal. The rebuke of a loving friend like this is a blessing.)  Her power to do this comes from a mindfulness of God's kindness toward her, Romans 2:4..."God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance."  We are in dire need of God's kindness toward us.  We could not exist without his divine restraint!  With His divine utterance we came to be and with his divine restraint we continue to be.  He could have poured out his wrath on me, but He issued restraint and poured it out on His Son for my sake and His glory.  Wow.  Kindness runs deep, so deep.

So, out of this depth, let's strive to become students of the teaching of kindness. To be a good student, first, we need to assess, "what am I teaching with my speech...is it kindness?"  The flip side of kind speech is found also in Ephesians 4:25-32 when we are encouraged to "...put away falsehood,...Be angry and do not sin; do not the the sun go down on your anger,...let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths,...Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice."  Second, we need to assess, "what am I teaching with my actions...is it kindness too?"  Ephesians 4:25-32 again, ..."let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need...Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."  Do my speech AND actions align with the teaching of kindness?

Galatians 5:22-23 lists the results that will show in your life when you are in alignment, "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."  Kindness makes the list!  Kindness is powerful!  Kindness is not void of a return either.  Proverbs 11:17 says, "A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself."  And, Proverbs 21:21 says, "Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor."  For you and I, I pray that we will pursue kindness in both word and deed.

Posted via email from Ginger Vassar