But also for
this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue
knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to
perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7
I like that love and
brotherly kindness are listed as two separate virtues. Brotherly kindness
sounds so small compared to love, but here it is in a list of virtues that mark
our entrance into the heavenly kingdom.
A lot of our Christian walk
is simply not being a jerk. I wish had learned that younger. I wasted too many
years being unkind and thoughtless toward people. I have many moments where I
was just not a nice guy. I can still be a real jerk sometimes,
Being nice is probably the
best way to make a good first impression with others, be they Christian or not.
First impressions are lasting and can set a pattern for what people think about
us. It is something we can do whenever we meet people that will people to see
Christ in us.
And that kindness must
continue. Being a jerk makes us look like hypocrites and that we really are no
better than the rest of the world.
Before my dad got saved he
was not generally and very nice man. He wasn’t ugly about it, its just that
kindness was not at the top of his character traits.
Once he got saved though
everything changed. He became the most kind and gentle man you could imagine.
His personality drew people to him and along with that drew people to Christ.
A little kindness goes a
long way. Let’s look for random acts of kindness we can perform as we go
through the day.
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