Ephesians 4:32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Be nice!  I would love to just leave it at that, but somehow 2 words for a devotional seems a bit short!  Seriously though, being nice almost seems to be a lost art these days!  Even walking through the grocery store the other day, I noticed different people who seemed to have a “chip on their shoulder”!  They forced their way past other people, one lady was moving along as though, she and her daughter were the only ones in the store and she was wearing an obvious scowl that said, “stay out of my way and don’t talk to me!”  So I asked God, “what is up with all of the hatefulness and anger in these people that they don’t even smile a polite ‘hello’ as they shove people out of their way?”  And He said, “just be nice.”  

It doesn’t matter really, how other people behave, you only answer for yourself.  Let God take care of them!  But think about this for a moment:  you don’t know what is going on in their life!  Maybe that woman who couldn’t smile at you and seemed rude was preoccupied with the fact that she has cancer and who will take care of that daughter walking with her if she doesn’t make it.  Maybe that person who cut you off was distracted because they were consumed with the fact that their spouse just filed for a divorce!  Maybe that woman who fought with you over that item in the store for Christmas was trying to buy it for her child who has a life-threatening disease!  Maybe that man just lost his job and is overwhelmed with how he is going to take care of his family!  You just don’t know what they are facing on the inside, even if they are mean all the time, it is still coming from a deeply wounded heart that only God can heal, so show them some love and kindness!

When you get up in the morning ask God to give you a clean heart and a right spirit.  Ask Him to show you opportunities to show His love to others!  Ask Him to help you check your reactions to other people so you can set an example and show His love!  People are usually mean when they are hurting deeply so try to keep that in mind so you don’t respond in a way that just causes them more pain!  Ask God to fill you with His love for people so they too can know that in Him, the best is yet to come!

Quote: “It’s not the things you get but the hearts you touch that will determine your success in life.”  ~ Simple Truths