Nourish Your Heart

Where in this world is kindness? Does the quality gentleness come along with kindness? Where do I go to be able to achieve this with any consistency during my regular days of interruptions and deadlines?

God is kind. He loves us and shows us his kindness by leading us into a radical life change. He helps us move toward a better life. He shows us how to repent and become new. He takes our hand.

God is gentle with those he loves. He has kindness in his heart for all those who seek him. He looks at those who do not know that they seek him.

But how am I to be kind. God gave me new life. He gave me a new set of clothes to wear. Kindness is part of that wardrobe. Always filled and covered with love because I never want to be without God’s love.

And when I am kind I am living God’s way. I will develop a sense of compassion in my heart. Because that is God’s way. And against these things there is no law.

Lord, you way is higher than my way. You show me how to be kind. You lift me up into your ways so that I can be filled with kindness but not soft. You show me how to be full of gentle kindness for others.

You give me an affection for others and an exuberance about life. You give me serenity. You work in me so I have a willingness to stick with things. Because of you I find myself involved in loyal commitments. I don’t need to force my way. I don’t need a list of rules to follow. I don’t need to provide a list of rules for those around me.

We live and exist in your love, surrounded by your quiet strength and infused with your glorious joy.

Romans 2:4 God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.

Romans 11:21-22 Make sure you stay alert to these qualities of gentle kindness and ruthless severity that exist side by side in God—ruthless with the deadwood, gentle with the grafted shoot.

Colossians 3:12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [[a]that can bring a charge].

Galatians 5:22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way.

(My grandmother, Anna Daisy Siemens, wrote poetry and prose. This devotion was written and published for Devotions for the Deaf in 1994)

II Timothy 2:16 – Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

Matthew explains that all words flow from our hearts — good and evil. “By your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37 – For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.). Paul chided idle women who became gossips and busybodies (I Timothy 5:13 – Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also busybodies who talk nonsense, saying things they ought not to.) and James, in his practical letter of Christianity says, “Our religion is worthless if we cannot control our tongues.” (James 1:26 - Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.)

Impetuous Peter had a tongue problem. It wagged before his brain was in gear. Jesus called him a stumbling block to his cause. (Matthew 16:23 – Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”) Although he confessed Jesus as the Christ and offered to build three shelter on the Mount, he denied Jesus three times.

If there is hope for this man, we too, can learn to control our tongues. How thankful we are that this Spirit-filled man points us to the morning star…in our hearts. (II Peter 1:19 – We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.)

Prayer: Lord, watch my heart and forgive me my sins so that my praises may always ring clear.

(My grandmother, Anna Daisy Siemens, wrote poetry and prose. This devotion was written and published for Devotions for the Deaf in 1994)

Romans 12:15 – Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Job felt that his misery outweighed the sands of the seas but his friends thought he deserved all his boils. They had no compassion for Job. Neither could Haman rejoice for Mordecai when the King honored this Jew. So what is harder to do, to rejoice with others or to grieve with them? Jesus set us an example. He did both.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the three stories. A shepherd leaves a flock of ninety-nine to find one lost sheep. A woman swept her house to search until she found her one lost coin. The prodigal son received a royal welcome when he came home. They all invited neighbors to rejoice in their own joy. We should rejoice with every sinner that comes home.

Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb. He grieved for Jerusalem and for the rich young ruler. He comforts us in sorrow and rejoices with his every blessing.

Prayer: Lord, give me compassion for those around me and for all of God’s creatures.