Galatians 5:22–23 (Listen)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
(ESV)
Hello from Alexis
Thought from Ben on Kindness
Challenge 1 - kindness to others
Who is it that recently got on your nerves? Ask God how you can show kindness to that person and hence praise God in the process.
Where can you see great need? Ask God how you can help in that situation and show kindness in the situation.
Once you have the answers, write them down in your journal and look for an opportunity to show kindness. Then tell another person, us or an adult you trust, how you got on.
What is kindness - it's all Greek to me!
We sang Reckless Love at Glenbrook last May. It talks about the Good Shepherd (Jesus) coming searching for each one of us when we wander off, because Jesus is kind. This version has the writer Cory explaining what the song is about in the middle of the song.
Reckless Love - the Kindness of God
Challenge 2 - be kind to yourself
First step is to think about the last time you were unkind to yourself and preferably write it down. That might be saying to yourself that you were stupid, or your behaviour was stupid, or a comment about your looks (a body part that you might not like).......I'm thinking that what you say over yourself, you probably wouldn't say such a thing to somebody you love or your best friend, it would be too mean.
Next - say you are sorry to yourself for saying that about yourself (yes this might feel slightly odd). It will also help if you say sorry to God for saying that thing about yourself too (after all He made you and thinks you are the best invention since the smart phone!)
Finally - write down positive things about yourself - rewrite the thought track in your brain. I can do this work, but I might need to ask for some help....Next time I will behave in this way because I've realised that my reaction was not good.......This bit of my body is something that God made, and as He makes things in a perfect way, He must love the way I look and I will follow His lead.
Look for opportunities to catch yourself being unkind to yourself again, and then follow the same pattern. Eventually you won't have to rewrite the thought track as often as it will become more natural to be kind to yourself.
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