Titus 3:4-7 NLT
“But – when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace, he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”
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I love this verse so much because it talks of how God saves us because he is a kind God, full of love. It’s not the works we perform to impress him, but because he is full of mercy. As a bonus? He generously pours his Spirit on us, and the hope is that we can show others this same kindness and grace. If God is so incredibly kind to us, couldn’t we be a bit kinder to ourselves? Kinder to others?
Recently I was at a big box store and a very simple transaction got all messed up by the cashier. I didn’t say anything, but my facial expressions revealed the truth of my frustrations. If you know me, you know this can be a problem 🙂 The cashier looked at me and apologetically said, “We are just so understaffed”. Here this guy is, probably doing the job of 3 people and he didn’t need to encounter my annoyance at his job. God shows me so much kindness, certainly a little bit can ooze out of my facial expressions every now and again.
Want to work on growing in kindness with me? Offer grace generously. Forgive freely and often. Give people a break. Put a genuine smile on your face. Let it ooze out of you and hopefully, it will make it to your face.
— Ceci