Tag: kind

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

It’s so simple. It’s so hard.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Adam Nemeroff on Unsplash

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Micah 6.

He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)

On any given day, it’s easy to resolve first thing in the morning to humbly walk with God, be kind, and do the right thing.

Then life happens. I forget. I get preoccupied. I get busy. I get defensive. And suddenly it’s all about me. Suddenly, I’m no so humble, nice, or interested in “justice.”

It sounds so simple. But it’s so hard to do. It’s not my problem. I don’t want to be nice. And I want to be recognized and appreciated. My natural inclination is just the opposite of what God wants.

And that’s the problem, isn’t it? I’m on a whole different page than God. Justice? Only if it’s in my best interest. Kindness? Maybe, if I think I might like you. Humility? I mostly think about me. I’m not as humble as I like to think.

In context, God’s people wanted to bring more sacrifices and give more offerings. But that’s not what he wanted. He wanted them to be different, to be nice, to make the world a better place.

I think it comes down to this: God doesn’t want me to do more for him. He does something — everything — for me. My God is just, kind, and humble. For me. Because I’m not good at this.

Posted in God

Mr. Nice Guy?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

As I read Psalm 92 the other day from An American Translation of the bible, I paused at verse 2, where the psalmist mentions God’s faithfulness and kindness. The ESV uses the term “steadfast love.” The lexicon uses the longer term “lovingkindness.” God is also described as “kind” when Paul writes, “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 ESV). So I started thinking, “What does it mean that God is kind?”

In my mind, a kind person is nice. Not mean, rude, abrasive or irritable. In my mind God isn’t like that either. But it just doesn’t seem right to simply describe the Almighty as a nice guy. When you head down that path, you end up with everyone in heaven, because after all, God is kind. There’s got to be more to it than that.

Other New Testament passages (Eph. 2:7 and Titus 3:4) link God’s kindness with Jesus and his saving work. That makes God actively kind, similar to activity associated with agape love. His kindness is an aspect of his grace. When you don’t get what you deserve and your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ, you’re experiencing God’s kindness. It’s a kindness meant to lead you to repent and get your act together.

I wonder if Israel camped at the base of cloud-covered Mt. Sinai, the ground trembling beneath their feet, thought of God as kind. Powerful? Yes. Holy? Check. Frightening? Yep. Nice? Not to their enemies, that’s for sure. But for the moment God was providing and protecting them. That’s pretty nice of him. And I wouldn’t ever want to take that for granted!