31 Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. 32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you[a] in Christ. (Ephesians 4:31-32 CSB)
Kindness is a choice we make every moment of every day.
It is easy to be mad. I spent a long time “getting my mad on” as I called it. Let me let you know what it brought me. Nothing. Well, not totally true, it did bring me stomach problems, headaches, hypertension and animosity.
You see, there is nothing good in getting your mad on. Even when we feel justified we typically aren’t. But when we practice kindness, true compassion and forgiveness we gain so much. We become lighthearted, easy going and respectful. Another key take away is that people really have to work at being mad at a person who is kind to them. It just kills their mad.
Our scripture speaks to all of our mads; bitterness, anger, wrath, shouting, slander, malice. That is a lot of mads. Furthermore, I have come to truly believe that harboring anger will manifest itself in physical pain. As I noted above, what being mad brought me was nothing good physically. And if we are truthful, it just leaves you feeling bad and mad at the world, even when the world did nothing to deserve it.
But when we are kind and practice forgiveness God responds by honoring us and our response. He does not turn a blind eye to our efforts to be kind an compassionate to one another.
