Be Kind

Kindness Day 1

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

   “Peace begins with a smile.” Mother Teresa

 

  • Remember, one of the most important components of the Help Club is praying and having someone to pray with you. Have you been praying with your prayer partner? Be honest. If the answer is no, do what you can to connect this week. Text her to set up a quick time to pray. We are ALL busy, but prayer should be a priority. I (Deb) have a quick prayer call with someone most days of the week. It has TRULY changed my life!
  • Call your prayer partner for your quick 10-minute phone call.
  • Read John 15:4-9, James 1:22, and Ephesians 4:31-32. Write Ephesians 4:31-32 in your journal and record it on your phone. Pray and ask God to help you to stay close to Him instead of living independently from Him. Ask Him to speak to your heart this week about what it means to be kind and compassionate. Ask Him how to stay close so you can obey Him and be kinder to the people with whom He has blessed you.

Be Kind

Do you ever stop to think about how different our lives would be if we were not merely “listeners” of the Word of God; what if we really did what it said (James 1:22)?

I know when my children were little, I had many mornings when I had a wonderful time with God in my Bible study. I felt inspired, ready to go out to my world and be like Jesus to my husband and children. Then, all of a sudden, my kids would start to argue, something would get spilled, the dog would potty on the carpet (no lie), and it would all be over!

It was during these times that I would completely blow it, get angry, and start yelling at my poor children. Ugh! Then the condemnation would come, and I would feel so sad for the rest of the day.  It happens to all of us; however, even on those days, it is God’s will for us to obey what we read in His Word.

Imagine for a moment reading today’s passage and truly applying what you learned about kindness and compassion to your life today. How would your heart be? How would your family be?

You know it would be totally awesome!

Now you ask, “How on earth can I be kind instead of losing it when my day starts to fall apart?”

I’m glad you asked!

I believe the secret to obeying God’s Word to be kind or anything else is tucked away in John 15 verse 5:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” 

Did you see that? Apart from living close to Jesus, you can do nothing! 

Jesus wants you not only to read an inspiring passage in the morning, then put down your Bible and go on with your day; He wants you to be with Him ALL day. He wants you to talk to Him ALL day. He loves you SO much that He wants to keep you close, talking to Him and asking for help ALL DAY LONG.

Jesus longs to be a part of your day.

Let’s look at my example from when my children were little. Instead of getting angry and frustrated, blowing it when the kids were fussing, the spills were happening, and the dog was ruining my carpet, Jesus’s heart longed for me to cry out to Him and say, “Jesus help me!” He wanted me to come to Him instead of losing my patience and forgetting to be kind. He wanted me to speak the Word of God out loud and say something like, “Love is patient and kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

It can be challenging to be an intentional mom who does what she can to be kind, rely on Christ, and redeem your day if things go awry. We all fall sometimes, and we will never be perfect.

Remember the words of Dory, the fish, in Finding Nemo: “Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!” Just keep trying to do better each day and rely on Jesus for help. Keep practicing what you are learning in God’s Word each day.

As my husband, Randy, always says, “Perfect practice makes perfect.”  You’re still going to fall, but you will be falling forward a few steps each time, instead of falling backward. Try to get a little better each day!

Questions to Ponder

  • Is there something that is continually ruining your mood and messing with your day? Try to focus on at least one thing that is the culprit and every day for a week submit that to God. Write out a prayer committing this culprit to Jesus.
  • Remember to give your thoughts to Jesus “… we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5.
  • He is in control and will lessen those struggles and burdens, and He wants us to trust Him completely and submit our problems to Him.

Faith-Filled Idea

I asked one of our Help Club team members, Rachel Jones, what she does in her home when things start to go haywire during her day with her four children. She said some great things I think all of us should put into practice:

  • “Any day spent in the Word of God will start my day off right. I have a better mindset and can focus on being like Jesus to my family. If I feel myself start to lose it, I simply whisper a prayer and ask Jesus to help me to be slow to anger instead of letting the little things ruin my day.”
  • “If my day starts out as a struggle and things go wrong, I do what I can to recover the day. Even if my morning is bad, there are still many hours left in the day that God can redeem. I  change the mood by getting out of the house and finding a change of scenery. We will go to a park, a friend’s house, or simply take a walk together. Whatever we do, the main goal is to keep trying to have a good day and stay positive, trusting God to be my helper.
  • “I try to remember how blessed I am that I get to be a mom. I only have one life to live, and one shot at being a godly Mom. God helps us to accomplish this when we rely on Him to help us every day of our lives, one moment at a time, one prayer at a time.”
  • “Lastly, I want to redeem my day, so I can be a joyful wife for my husband when he comes home. I am not only  a mom, but I am also a wife and want to make the most of every day with my husband.”

PS- This is a wonderful teaching by Joyce Meyer that I have been listening to this week. It’s awesome and worth the investment of time to listen. Our thoughts are powerful, and Joyce shares how important it is to be careful what you allow your mind to think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1GAqdHOUhA

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Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

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Rachel Jones
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23 Comments on “Be Kind”

  1. I love that you said that Jesus longs to be a part of our day. It’s so easy to, like you said, put down our Bibles and go on with our day and not take Jesus with us. I want to be more mindful of including Jesus throughout my entire day.

  2. Thanks Rachel and Deb for the encouragement to just stop what your doing during the craziness of our day and ask our “helper” to give us the mind of Christ. I think it great exhortation to do it several times a day to make a new habit of asking God to intervene and change our course when it might be spiraling in the wrong direction! I also love the reminder to ask the Lord to bless us as wives to be a blessing for our husband after a long day! So often, i overlook doing this and then I am not being the best I can be.

  3. This devotional convicted to pray to see the root of my children’s discontent. A lot of “That’s not fair!” and “Why does [my sister] to ___” types of whining fills the house these days. This weekend, I gave a lot of verses to my children about grumbling, considering it all joy, etc., but it was more lecture than heart talk. Thanks for the reminder to find the root!

  4. Thank you for that study and the challenge! It’s a good reminder and I loved listening to the Joyce Meyers podcast as well. Grateful for Help Club!

  5. I’ve enjoyed reading these devos for several months now, and I live on the other side of the world. Thanks to Daphne for introducing me to the website and thanks to everyone who contributes to the site.

    1. Thanks so much Krystal! I am so thankful that you’ve found our studies! Thanks so much for commenting!! It’s so exciting to know who our readers are and especially those who live around the world!

    2. It’s so good to hear from you! I miss you dearly. I love that we’re connected via Help Club. It makes me feel closer to you. Take care, my friend.

  6. I agree I like this bible study better because of the Pray partner. There is just something when you hear someone praying for you. I don’t know how to word it it’s just so wonderful. One day a week I get to tell someone what I would like pray for and then I hear them say it. It’s beautiful!!

    I enjoy the meetings once a month as well. It’s nice to talk with other mommies and get some tips or tricks of the trade 🙂

  7. Boy, you nailed it with this one, Deb. This is the struggle that I am so aware of right now. Bedtime is our battleground right now, and we are trying hard to be consistent with a four year old who is throwing temper tantrums about little things most evenings in an attempt to stay up later. Sometimes my husband takes bath time while I do the dishes and listen to a sermon. And half the time I walk out of the kitchen, go upstairs, and five minutes later find myself losing my temper with my daughter. Those “help me, Lord!” prayers are the only way I make it.

    Praying today for all of us to walk closely with Jesus and be filled with thte Holy Sporit throughout the day.

    1. Hi Jess! Bedtime is SO rough! Ugh! It’s especially tough because we NEED them to go to bed! lol
      That’s a great prayer! That is the MOST important thing- walking with Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit. Love you!

  8. Loved reading in James this morning! When doing Beth Moore studies I always loved her video component. We get to see you often but there may come a day when this is farther
    reaching?. Also, fellowship and community. I love doing life with the people around me! Mari Jo is right about prayer! I LOVE having a group of Faith filled women to pray with!

    1. I agree Tara! We need to pray about how to reach people thru video. I also agree SO much about community and prayer. Thanks so much for all you do!! xxoo

  9. Last year I was a part of 5 Aspects of Woman. Something I loved about that study was that the author had gone back and recorded all of her writing. This meant that women could fold laundry or drive while getting the study into them. For me, i appreciated listening along while I read so that it sunk in deeper. Phyllis would just put that weeks teaching on repeat so that she heard it a couple times.

    1. I think that audio would be great too Anelise! I bet you LOVED Phyllis’ group! She is so awesome!!
      Thank you SO much for your constant encouragement to me! XXOO

  10. Very encouraging devo with great insight Deb and Rachel! Love you ladies! 🙂

    I’ve been with women’s prayer group/bible study for almost 3 years and what I like the best about it is the deep fellowship we have with the Holy Spirit and with each other when we are together. Praying, inviting and acknowledging the presence of Jesus has brought an amazing unity, fresh revelation and understanding to the Scriptures that no man could ever work up. It’s like a taste of heaven when we are together and then when we go home we feel equipped to be better wives and moms to our husbands and children. Also because we trust each other, there is a transparency. We don’t hide anything, but rather share, cry and give our problems to Jesus and leave them there.

  11. I think what I really have enjoyed most about Bible studies done through a church women’s Bible study format is the opportunity to share with and hear from other women about what God is teaching each of us, to pray for one another, laugh with one another, cry with one another. So, having a prayer partner in this on-line mentorship program, and meeting once a month for some face to face time with each other really enhances what God is teaching me and brings a lot of encouragement.

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