Devotional: Love is Kind

​Do all the good you can.
By all the means you can.
In all the ways you can.
In all the places you can.
At all times you can.
To all the people you can.
For as long as you can.
- ​John Wesley

Being kind affects our health. People with chronic back problems who let go of anger and resentment and instead foster love, compassion and forgiveness experience improvements in pain and depression.

Practicing “compassion meditation” or wishing other people well and sending positive thoughts their way appears to reduce levels of inflammation, a factor associated with a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

So it pays to be kind. Although true kindness does not look for rewards, being kind allows us to reap a bevy of benefits. In general, people who act with kindness tend to be happier and more optimistic.

​They have a positive outlook in life. Those who make being nice a daily practice, whether they feel like it or not, often experience the positive repercussions in their attitude.

1 Corinthians 13 4 Love … is kind.

Things I Say to Myself (Love and Kindness)

Among the fruit of the Spirit are love and goodness
Love and kindness go together, like peas in a pod

Being kind is much more than being respectful and polite to others
It is being tender and considerate, compassionate and obliging

It is actively doing good and being concerned and sensitive
It is being merciful and caring, not missing an opportunity to be beneficial

Kindness emanating from love is not about political correctness
It is not about gaining anyone’s favor and getting in their good books

It is not concerned about “how it can benefit me or what is in it for me”
There is no ulterior motives and hidden objectives in real love

Loving-kindness is doing something valuable for someone to help them
Including those who are unkind to me, like turning the other cheek

Love is impossible without benevolence and goodwill and generosity
Love without kindness is like springtime without flowers and like fire without heat

Love is a verb, chock full of kind words, supported by thoughtful actions
Love is not all talk, and is mostly about charitable deeds

To love means doing what needs to be done in a particular situation
This is how the love of God makes me kindhearted, humane and generous

With God’s strength, I will do all the good I can, by all the means can
In all the ways I can, and in all the places I can

​And with God’s strength, I will do good at all the times I can, to all the people I can
I will be kind and demonstrate the love of God for as long as I possibly can

Amen
©F. Faye Doman – February 2014