Loving and Compassionate Lord, You explained the spirit of the 10 Commandments when You summarized them in saying … “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” What You are telling me is that if I truly love You and my fellow man, I am living the spirit of what is in the 10 Commandments. Rather than focusing on what I should not do, You gave them a positive spin by telling me what I should do. Therefore, I must do all I can do to show You and others my love. By fulfilling Your two commands, You are showing me how to obey all 10. Your message is for me to show kindness. The core of kindness is getting beyond myself and thinking of others more highly than myself. A kind act is one that contains the gift of benevolence. It compels me to be tender, gentle, compassionate, generous and give favor.
You encourage me to be kind to my neighbor but, beyond that, You want me to be kind and pray for those I count as my enemies. How easy it is to be kind to those who are kind to me, but it’s another thing to be kind to those I feel are not worthy of kindness. What You are asking me to do is to treat others the way You treated me. As a sinner, I was Your enemy because of my sins and heartless ways. However, You did a most loving and kind act by dying for my sins. What You are asking me to do is be like You. By loving and praying for my enemies, I am learning how to overcome evil with good. By loving my enemies and treating them kindly, I am shining forth Your light and showing them to live for You as I do. It is not easy to subject myself to someone who has hurt me, but I must be willing to allow You to show me how to love those I do not love.
What I must understand is that You are the source of true loving kindness. Each time I show that same kindness to another, whether You or others, I am living out my new birth and closeness to You. To love and act kindly is my choice to be more like You. Your Word tells me that whoever does not act in love does not know You … because You are love. True love understands that if I show kindness to another, they may not love me back … but I am to love them anyway. Isn’t that the way You came to earth to give Your life in exchange for mine. There are no guarantees that my love will change anything … only the hope that it will. So, if You loved and trusted me to respond positively, shouldn’t I be willing to do the same for others? Since I know You are with me always, I have the assurance that love goes with me everywhere I go. Therefore, I should be loving and kind always. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Psalm 63:3 Because thy loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus, will I bless thee while I live.