Each week I have been picking a family scripture to teach the children during our morning Bible time.
Something short and easy for my young children to learn, that will hopefully help them in their interpersonal relationships. (Read: that will help them to not fight like cats and dogs and make me want to pull out my hair on some days.)
This weeks verse: Love is kind. 1 Corinthians 13:4
It’s easy to learn and remember and it speaks volumes.
Love is kind.
So to help them understand what God means in this simple verse with that really packs a punch, I began to explain and act out what kind does and does not look like.
And guess what? I was convicted.
Yep.
My childlike actions to teach them, convicted me of some of my own childlike behaviors towards my husband.
Love is kind.
You mean when he’s short tempered? Yes.
You mean when he’s hurt my feelings? Yes.
You mean even when I feel like he’s done me wrong? Yes.
Anyone else convicted here?
Love = kindness. Kindness = love.
That equation is so much easier to type out than live out, isn’t it?
If I love God (and I do) and if I love my husband (oh, how I do) then I will be kind.
Not simply in response to how I am treated, but because of the overflow of love in my heart.
Now how do I live this out?
By intentionally making each decision in kindness. Not anger, not emotion, not vengeance. But rather deliberately laying aside my feelings, my “rights” and anything else that leans toward a sense of entitlement and choosing kindness.
Choose kindness. Choose love.
Barb
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