Morning Cuppas With Glenys : kindness

Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts

God hates hypocrisy!

Recently on social media, there has been a lot of short videos of people doing acts of charity whilst being filmed. For example, people like you and I are standing at the checkout of a supermarket. Someone makes a distraction and next minute, to our surprise, we find our groceries have been paid for.

Now don't get me wrong- being charitable and kind is a wonderful thing. It helps the person being served and it gives a lift to the giver. But what troubles me is the total staged charitable act and often the embarrassment of the person being helped.

Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, but when we give we are to do it privately. To broadcast our acts of charity is to draw attention to ourselves. Jesus said that we have got our reward already.

We are to love one another, but that love should not embarrass or humiliate another. Some people are clearly embarrassed as well as surprised. Some have tried to return the money, but after making sure they were filmed, their benefactors run away.

We should definitely be kind and do acts of charity when we can. But like going into our room to pray- in secret, so should our acts of kindness be private.

When we love one another, we should love the other person more than ourselves and any kudos that may bring. Our Father Who sees all will reward us. Let's be happy knowing that. God hates hypocrisy!

"But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." Matthew 6:3-6

May God bring one to you!

Over the years, I have been in hospital countless times and I can say that it's nurses who are dedicated to their profession who have made my stays bearable.

I have had many surgeries and illnesses and by far the most of my admissions were for a spinal condition called Sheurman's Disease. I was in traction for two weeks at a time and that happened about every 3 months. It was such a trying time.

Unable to sit up, I depended upon the nurses for everything. Bathing, eating, toileting. It was such a drag. But even so, that drag would have been so much worse if it weren't for the good nurses who attended me.

I got to know those who were true nurses and those who were just in it for the money. The true nurses were compassionate, kind and helpful, whereas the others would just plonk my tray in front of me and leave it until a caring nurse would notice it was untouched and come and help me.

Asking for a bedpan was a guage for this as the uncaring nurse would tut because I had emptied my bladder so many times already and she had better things to do... but Florence Nightingale would smile and breeze through it and leave me feeling relaxed instead of tense.

Bathing was another time the true nurse came to the fore... removing my traction- 7lb water bags on each leg.... no grumbling and her only tuts were seeing the blisters under the adhesive strapping that held them on my legs.

Seeing the blisters bursting and leaving raw skin, she took great pains to clean them and after helping me wash in bed, she doctored them and used crepe bandaging for the traction...

I commented that it didnt sting like the last time the other nurse dressed them with pure undiluted methylated spirits, and after hearing this she spluttered and blew up... exiting the ward to address the nurse who was in it for the money about proper treatment of blisters and the need to check on them. She was disgusted with that nurse and even told her so.

Once again it was easy to tell the dedicated nurses from the opportunistic ones... I was grateful for that kind nurse and I told her so. Her response was typical of a kind heart for she told me it was difficult enough for me to endure without developing blisters that kept on being covered again with the same adhesive that had caused the damage in the first place.

I have heard people say of kind nurses that they are angels, and I believe a lot of them by expressing kindness and compassion, emulate them, for they exude the fruit of the Spirit.

So today, if any kind nurses read this, I would like to thank you for making such a dark time in my life (many times over), more bearable. I am grateful and pray there are many more like you. My prayer is should you need help in hospital, that God brings a caring nurse to you.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 John 1:2

A world we don't want to live in

My friend wrote on Face Book. "Acting out of wholesome and compassionate intentions won't magically prevent us from confronting the slings and arrows of life’s misfortune....on the contrary - it can make you a target in this world of 'spiritual warfare'"

Yes, kindness is often seen as weakness, love is made into a cheap word, forgiveness is for fools and good manners are often regarded as flirting...

So given that it is difficult in this world to be pure of heart and kind without people misconstruing our motives, how should we act?

We must emulate our Saviour.

We must remember that the very things that annoy the world delight God.

We must keep in mind that the very fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control...

We must keep in mind that because of this, the world is going to be contrary to it and react adversely.

We must keep growing in the Spirit and emulating Jesus

We must also remember that we are the salt of the world and must remain flavoursome...

Kindness is an attribute of God and is a fruit of the Spirit, and as such, is highly regarded by Him. Being kind is something we should all aspire to be as Christians. And it often requires being strong in spirit. It means being forgiving. Loving. Selfless. Sacrificial. It includes purity of heart, mind and speech. It imparts grace.

The King James Bible speaks of kindness 43 times, and from that one can see the importance of being kind in all its' aspects. Many verses exhort us to be kind and they extol kindness's virtues.

Choose to be kind even if that person doesn't deserve it, because that is what God has done for us all: saved and unsaved. That takes strength and prayer. Be kind. Because a world without kindness is a world none of us would really want to live in.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.-Galatians 5:22-23

Cooking is a ministry

Lately with diabetes and heart failure causing Chris to lose his appetite, it has become more important than ever to prepare food for him that he enjoys.

Illness makes one's taste buds change and so the menu I prepare and the ingredients I buy constantly change.

I have to ask him on the day what he fancies to eat and I literally have to coax him to have some food. It can be very challenging.

In order to keep abreast of Chris's changing tastes in food, I keep a whiteboard on my fridge, jotting down things that he enjoyed and I glean Pinterest for ideas on meals. If Chris says he would like to try a recipe I find, it goes on that list too.

When my uncle lived with my mother, and later on my step-father, both of them lived beyond what the doctors expected (cancer and emphysema), and I credit that to Mum's good and plain cooking.

Chris knows this and forces himself to eat sometimes, but he never finishes a meal. Because a large plate of food nauseates him, I serve them in smaller plates. You learn as you go along.

I can well remember my ailing step-father Max sitting eating without obvious enjoyment and I asked him if he liked the meal. His answer has stayed in my mind to be implemented now in Chris's time of illness.

He said nothing was wrong with the meal, but his appetite was gone and he only eats because he knows he has to. And so I tell Chris when he refuses to eat. I remind him of what Max said. So he eats.

Nutritionally, all of Chris's blood tests come back normal. So he's getting enough iron and so on..

With cutting carbs and sugar as well as lack of teeth thrown into the mix, it can get frustrating at times. I make it a priority to include these needs into my prayer time each morning along with a request for necessary spoons (energy) with my fibromyalgia.

Apart from wisdom in meal preparation, God's been teaching me patience, kindness and endurance... and because nutrition is so important to us, I know the Man Who cooked breakfast for His disciples doesn't mind at all... cooking is a ministry!

"When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus told them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many, the net was not torn.

“Come, have breakfast,” Jesus said to them. None of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish." -John 21:9-12

Loving all creatures.

Over the years I have come to believe that a lot can be gleaned about a person's character by the way they treat animals.

Without fail, I have observed that people who are kind to animals are tender hearted and usually are kind and fair with their dealings with people.

Conversely, those who are cruel or unkind to animals treat people in like manner.

Indeed, I have seen this in my own family, starting with my ex-husband who was a particularly cruel man.

He was very cruel to animals and treated me badly in our 25 year marriage. So much so, that I was forced to leave him to save myself.

His legacy was handed down to my first two children who have a dislike of animals, but are not cruel to them. They treat people around them with indifference and dislike generally as well.

My last two children not only are kind to animals, but actually dote on them. Their treatment of people generally is kind and fair.

Sadly, it has been noted by forensic scientists and so on that people who are cruel or kill animals eventually kill people.

Whenever I see people loving their pets or animals, I feel an affinity with them. After all, gentleness and kindness are fruits of the Spirit. I can be pretty sure that they would be nice people to know and would treat me with equity and fairness. I am rarely wrong.

God created animals for man to have dominion over, but as we see in Judaic Laws, they are to be treated humanely and compassionately at all times. Even when slaughtering them for food, it has to be killed with one smooth cut which is supposedly painless. Kosher.

It is said that animals and children are good judges of character, and I think there's a lot of truth in that. A character that is appalled at cruelty will be loving and gentle and one who does not care will not. Certainly, as born-again Christians, we should treat all living things well as they firstly belong to the LORD.

Test me and see if I am right by observing this for yourself. It is a useful tool to help in judging whether you can trust a person in daily life or not..as well as their walk with the LORD. We should be loving all creatures.

Proverbs 12:10 “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”

Bother to lift us up and not tear us down

It amazes me how many people are uninformed about something yet feel compelled to give an opinion or advice about it.

When I got fibromyalgia everyone told me it was in my head. I pushed myself physically to get through it but the emotional toll was so bad. Guilt. Failure. Self loathing. Exacerbation of it all. In the end it was all for nothing: fibromyalgia is real.

How one talks to a chronically ill person is important as often they can take those words and apply it to themself, even if that person really doesn't understand about their illness.

Quite often speaking erroneously and negatively can damage a person so much that they actually feel worse. Those words have the propensity to cause so much emotionally destructive thoughts that cripple a person worse than the disease or ailment they suffer does.

Unsolicited advice such as starting exercising, dieting, positive thinking, all sound great for most maladies, but alas, not so great for chronic illness such as heart failure, osteoporosis, spinal stenosis, lupus and fibromyalgia.

Taking this on board for the person already grieving for their lost health can lead a person straight to the Pit of Despair. And it achieves nothing.

A little kindness would go a long way to helping the chronically ill retain self respect and accept their illness quicker. But most times those who give advice are anything but kind, sounding judgmental and arrogant. Which just expounds on how truly unhelpful they really are- or try to be.

Being kind and gentle to those suffering is Christ's way- so if you think you have enough knowledge and love to impart some wisdom and instruction to a chronically ill person- do so gently and kindly.

God Himself knows we have enough to contend with already as we walk the sad and lonely path of illness. We need less words and more acts that impart sympathy and compassion.

Pray for us and comfort us and be one of the few who bother to lift us up and not tear us down.

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Matthew 14:14

We don't want to live without it

I read a statement today that said, "I don't want to be a part of a world where being kind is a weakness!" I have found in my life that people equate kindness with weakness and nothing can be further from the truth. Sometimes being kind to someone is an internal battle that strives with the urge to treat that person as we have been treated: unkindly.

The King James Bible speaks of kindness 43 times, and from that one can see the importance of being kind in all its' aspects. Many verses exhort us to be kind and they extol kindness's virtues.

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Colossians 3:12

Kindness is crucial for a happy life

The King James Bible speaks of kindness 43 times, and from that one can see the importance of being kind in all its' aspects. Many verses exhort us to be kind and they extol kindness's virtues.

CHOOSE TO BE KIND EVEN IF THAT PERSON IS NOT WORTHY OF IT because that is what God has done for us all: saved and unsaved. That takes strength and prayer. Be kind. Because a world without kindness is a world none of us would really want to live in, for it is crucial for a happy life...

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Colossians 3:12