Senior Living - June 19

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. --Colossians 3:12

A man waiting in between flights at an airport went to a store and bought a small package of cookies. He then sat down in the waiting area to read his newspaper. Gradually, he became aware of a rustling noise next to him. From behind his paper, he was shocked to see a neatly dressed woman helping herself to his cookies sitting in the next seat.

Not wanting to cause problems or make a scene out of the situation, the man leaned over and took a cookie himself from the package. A couple of minutes passed and then came more rustling. The woman was helping herself to another cookie!

By this time, the man was so angry he had a good mind to tell her off for digging in his things. Then, as if to add insult to injury, the woman broke the last cookie into two pieces, pushed half across to the man, ate the other half, and left.

Still fuming when his flight was announced, the man opened his briefcase to get his ticket. And to his embarrassment, there he found his package of unopened cookies!

How wrong our assumptions can be sometimes. Christ has called us to demonstrate kindness and love toward others in all situations—even those such as the one mentioned above.

"‘Let…the wise man boast…that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,' declares the LORD" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

If the Lord delights in kindness, so should we. In any situation, remember to take hold of and possess the qualities of kindness and brotherly love that our Lord demonstrates so you can be an effective witness to others (see 2 Peter 1:5-8).

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Ask the Lord to remind you to practice kindness toward others and to be an effective witness in all situations.

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