Detour To Kindness

Did you know a honey bee will travel some three hundred thousand miles to collect one pound of honey!  That may seem hard for you to believe, but I've known my Dad to travel [what I thought was] too far to save a few pennies on a tank of gas.

Some folks seem to take enormous detours just to be ... unkind!  Ever asked for a little grace from someone and got it, but the cost [of harsh words] was so costly you almost wished you hadn't asked!  What amount of self-gratification could there possibly be in making another person feel horrible!  One of the first verses I learned, I learned as a child: ". . . be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32)  Why is it so hard for us to kind? Perhaps it's because we haven't put away all "bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking" as instructed in Ephesians 4:31. Verse 29 instructs us to "let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth" and that the words we speak "impart grace to the hearers." The sting of words long outlast that of a honey bee.  I wonder what heart I've stung with my own unkind words lately.  The road of unkindness seems to be the more traveled,

but as Christians let's lead the way in the Detour to Kindness!

Dear Lord,

Forgive me for careless and unkind words, often spoken in anxious moments and to those whom I love dearly.  Give me a gentle and quiet spirit today, governed solely by Your sweet love and compassion.  In Jesus' Name, Amen.