I Know You Are, But What Am I?

I Know You Are, But What Am I?

I know you are up in the sky,

Shining oh so bright.

God put you there, way up high

To guide us in the night.

I know you are, but what am I?

I know you are so tall and wide

God put you in the ground.

Your branches reach from side to side,

We climb them to look around.

I know you are, but what am I?

I know you are so deep and blue,

God made you on day three.

Ships are made to sail on you,

And you stretch farther than I can see.

I know you are, but what am I?

I am black and I am white,

I'm like the star that burns at night.

I am a child that needs you love,

Created by the God above.

I am red and I am brown,

I'm like the tree that's in the ground.

I am a child that needs to grow,

I want to learn, His word to know.

I have a purpose and a light,

I want to shine, forever bright.

Help plant me firmly, safe and sound,

A vessel lost, but now is found.

What's the Point of being a Christian?

     If you’re a Christian, have you ever wondered what the point is? Is it just to have something to believe in, or is there more to it? I accepted Christ as my savior as a young lady of twelve. At twelve I was sure I knew what I was doing and why I accepted Christ. As an adult, I was encouraged by my amazing husband to really look at why I believe. Was it because I went to the same church from the time I was in daycare until my senior year in high school and I thought that is what was expected of me? For a while I thought that may have been true. After taking some time to look back at the day I publicly accepted Christ and remembering the way I felt at the time, I realized that I really did accept Christ because of what He did on the cross for my sins, and not just because it was what was expected of me. I truly believed, but I didn’t change, not right away.

     Do you believe what you believe because that is what was expected of you? Are you allowing Christ to work in you and change you because you believe in Him and what He wants to do in your life? Or do you simply believe so that you are assured of not going to hell or just so you can say you believe in something? I’m sorry if those statements seems harsh, but if we are not being changed by God’s gift of grace, given through His son and the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, then we aren’t living the way God planned for us. It took me over ten years of considering myself a Christian to start letting God work in my life and really change me. What about you?
     My pastor has spent some time recently talking about how Christianity is dying in America and how we as Christians are not being changed. The first is a direct result of the last. If we are continuing to live like we did before we accepted Christ, continuing to sin and treat others badly, what kind of example are we giving? Are we living in a way that would make others say, “Yeah, I want what she has,” or would they say, “They're no different than me, why should I believe that?” Here's a scary thought: Will your own children become believers based on how you are living, or do they see any change in you at all?

     I would like you to imagine for a moment that you are a believer in Christ, but that doesn’t really change the way you live (if indeed you are changing?). You continue along the same path, not sharing His word with others or living like you believe. Then you die and go to heaven. What if, as part of your judgment, God lets you take a look into hell and see the people you had contact with, possibly even your own family? They are suffering in agony for eternity and He asks you why you didn’t share Him with those people and save them from their torment? Could you handle that? I know I couldn’t.

     As believers in Christ, we have something that no one else does. It’s the power of the Holy Spirit. I have said this before and it bears repeating. We have the power of the Holy Spirit in us, just waiting for us to let it take hold and make changes. We can’t change on our own and God knows that. That is why He sent Jesus to the cross. So we could be saved and have the power to live in a way that honors Him. All we have to do is seek God and ask Him to help us change. He will and He won’t let us down. It will take time though, so don’t lose heart! No one can completely change over night, but we can commit to change and strive to change every waking minute that we have. Eventually the difference will become visible. It might take years, but God will be there with us the whole way, encouraging us and giving us the strength, through His Holy Spirit, to really be changed.

     So what is the point of being a Christian? It’s to be changed, through the power of God, so that we can share His word with others and hopefully, change them.

The Gift of the Spirit- What does it mean?

     As Christians, we have something that no one else does. We have the Holy Spirit living within us. This concept was, I'll admit, a bit vague to me until recently. I knew that when I accepted Christ as my savior that the Holy Spirit was supposed to be living in me, but I didn't feel it. I thought that I should feel some physical change that would assure me of the gift of the Spirit that Christ promised in John 14:16-17 when he said "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you" (NIV). But I really didn't feel any different. Or so I thought.

     The apostle Paul shed a lot of light on this subject for me in his first letter to the Corinthians. In chapter two Paul explains what it means to have wisdom from the Spirit. He says "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us."

     By reminding me that no one knows my thoughts except my spirit, Paul made it more clear to me how to see the Holy Spirit working in me (I definitely recommend reading from 1 Corinthians 1:18 thru the end of chapter 2 for some context on wisdom from Christ and the Holy Spirit). Those thoughts that are self seeking and immoral are not from the Spirit of God but are of my own sinful nature. The power that I have to overcome those thoughts and to keep from acting on them and even keep them from returning is the Holy Spirit's doing. The Holy Spirit has been slowly changing me from the selfish person that I was when I first received Christ to a more loving person that thinks of others more often. I can still be selfish, but again, that is my sin nature, and yours as well. We are not ever going to get it perfectly right. We will always be fighting against our nature but that is why God gave us the Holy Spirit.

     The purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us strength directly from God to help overcome our sinful nature and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. The Spirit is also there to help us discern what God wants us to do to help further His kingdom. These are the gifts that God has given us through grace: things like prophesy, serving, teaching, encouraging, helping the needy, leadership, and mercy (see Romans 12:3-8). The Holy Spirit helps us to see what we can do best for God while we are here. Think about something that you really love to do and do well. What is it? There is an excellent chance that this gift is something from God and that you are to use it for His glory. 

     I am not sure if this helped you to understand a little more about how the Holy Spirit works and how to see it working in you. I know it helped me tremendously so I thought I would share it with you. I would love to hear your comments so please feel free to share. Maybe even share what your gifts are and how you are using them to please our Father. I would love to hear from you.

What's Your Sign?

     I recently found a drawing in one of my old Bibles from when I was younger. It was a simple drawing of a road sign that said "Road Work Ahead". The date on the drawing was August 10, 1994. This was about 2 1/2 years from the time I first accepted Christ as my savior and was baptised. I remember my youth leader at the time asking us to draw a sign that indicated where our personal relationship with Christ was and how we thought we were growing. Looking back on that time and seeing that drawing made me realize that if I were asked the same question now, I would probably have the same answer.
     As a Christian, my life has definitely been a rocky road with many detours and closed lanes. Throughout adolescence I found my self on many roads that I thought would lead me to a life I would love, but instead I would always find myself at a dead end. When I recall those times, I tend to cringe a little! But I also realize that God let me make some of those decisions in order to grow me into the person I am today. Matthew 7:13-14 says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." I often found myself on that broad road because I thought the traveling would be easier. It never was. I have since found my way back through that small gate and onto that narrow road, but it was not easy. Even though I find myself on the right road, there are still some closed lanes and detours, but at least I know who put the construction barrels out on this road!
     Have you seen Disney's Beauty and the Beast? Do you recall the part where Belle is in the forest on her horse and she has the choice of two paths? One of the paths is wide and brightly lit and is clearly the way her horse wants her to go! The other path is darker, more narrow and does not look as appealing. Belle encourages her horse to go down the narrow path and who does she eventually find? Her father. It's the same way with us. The narrow path will not always look as appealing as the bright, wide road that leads to destruction but it will lead us where we want to go in the end. To our Father. What road are you on? What does you sign say?

Your Free to be You

     As a teenager, I felt like I was always trying to fit in. I wanted to be the beautiful, slender, popular girl that everyone liked. Instead I was the some what cute, chunky, voted most unique laugh (not because it was cute!) girl that the popular girls picked on. I wasn't great at sports and I felt like I didn't really fit in anywhere in my high school. I hated school even though I had some really great friends and always had a date to the school dances. In order to fit in better, I found myself turning into someone I was not. I would lie or turn on a good friend if I thought it would make me more popular.
     As I became more desperate to fit in I started smoking and would occasionally go for weeks without eating in order to try and lose weight. I had been a Christian since age 12 but I didn't think my friends would think it was cool so I didn't talk about it much, if at all. I definitely didn't act like a Christian. I picked up swearing because everyone else talked that way, so of course I wanted to as well. I pretty much ignored everything that I knew was right in favor of things that I thought would help me to fit in. But I still felt lost and alone.
     Once high school was over, I started trying to fit in with the college crowd. Drugs, alcohol, and sexual promiscuity were now on my list of things to do to fit in. Smoking and crude language were now such a part of my character that I felt like they had always been there. I did not look like the person on the outside that I knew I wanted to be, but I still so desperately wanted to be cool and fit it. Eventually, I found myself in an abusive marriage that lasted 10 months and left me with a very dim outlook on myself and some really bad habits to try to break.
     Lying to fit in or to keep from hurting some one's feelings are the hardest habits I have to break, and I am still working on it. If I had to go back in time and tell my teenage self one thing it would be this: Your free to be you! All those people that I tried so hard to impress are not a part of my life now, but the habits are still there. All of those things that I did to try to fit in caused so many bad memories and habits that I wish I had just been myself. There is a great song out there by Francesca Battistelli called "Free to be Me" and it speaks so much to my teenage self that I wish I had heard this song 15 years ago. Check it out if you have never heard it. Even though most of us are not teenagers anymore, that doesn't mean that we can't change. God is greater than any habit we may have!

God Really is Good, Really

     If you take a look at the first chapter of the book of Genesis (NIV) you will see a phrase repeated over and over. “And God saw that it was good,” is repeated after the account of each day and then after He created man, the Bible tells us in Genesis 1:31 that “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Not just good, very good. How often do we think about what “good” means in this context? Does it mean that it was beautiful and functional? I think so, but it also means that creation was without evil.

     That means that we were all created in His image, and we are a very good creation. Doesn’t that make you smile? God made us and He thinks we are very good. Even right now, where ever we are, no matter what sins we just committed or what sins we might commit later on today, He still thinks we are good and loves us. God really is good, really. He loves us no matter what and will continue to love us right on into eternity. Psalm 103 begins and ends with the phrase “Praise the Lord, O my soul,“ and in between those phrases king David spends 21 verses sharing how good God is.

     I challenge you to read Psalm 103 every day for the rest of the month and remember just how good God really is. When Christ died on the cross and said, “It is finished,” it did not mean that God had done all He was going to do for us and now we are on our own. Not at all! God is still at work in our lives and on this earth. He loves us and wants to give us good things. That is why Christ was resurrected from the grave. To show us that there is no end to the good things He has planned for those who love and fear Him. Not even death can come between us and God’s good plan.

Lord,

You are so good. Thank you for loving me no matter how not good I am sometimes. Thank you for giving me your Word so that I can be encouraged and reminded of your goodness. Thank you for forgiving me, healing me, redeeming me, and satisfying me so that I am renewed.  - Amen

Miracle or Misunderstanding?

    I was an exhausted mess that morning. I had been up every two hours, all night long, with an almost two week old that was losing too much weight. The doctors had said to feed her every two hours, and if she hadn’t gained any weight within a few days, she would be put in the hospital on a feeding tube. My thoughts were on my new daughter when my husband came in the room at eight am.

     “I have to take our son to the hospital,” he said, “the doctors think he has leukemia.”          

     Our sixteen month old son had been running a fever almost since our daughter was born. He had had some blood work done, and the results had come in. I thought they couldn’t be right. He was a perfectly normal little boy, other than the fever. He was playing the same, eating the same, and sleeping the same. There was no sign of an illness other than his fever, so they must be wrong.

     I was torn. I wanted to go to the hospital with my husband and son, but I couldn’t take a two week old that was already having problems to a hospital, so I had to stay home. We made the necessary calls to family to ask for prayer and then I waited for news. I called my sister and brother and they came over. Did I mention it was the Friday before Christmas?

     My husband called as often as he could with updates. They didn’t just think he had leukemia. Based on his blood work, the leukemia was very advanced and it wasn’t one of the types of leukemia that responded well to treatment. The oncologists and nurses were not hopeful.

     Back at home, we kept up the prayers. There were people all over the state of Michigan praying for our little boy, thanks to family, friends, and prayer chains. The doctors had been running tests on our boy and they were about to take him in for a bone marrow biopsy when a nurse came running in the room.

     “Wait a minute,” she said, “there has been a misunderstanding. We double checked the original test results and your son doesn’t have leukemia. He just had a really bad virus that wiped out his immune system.”

     And just like that, the nightmare was over. My son and husband stayed in the hospital over night and came home the next day. My husband shared with me his prayers while he was at the hospital. He told God he could have our son’s life, if God would just let us keep him here on earth so we could provide for his physical needs.

     Was this a miracle or a misunderstanding? Only God knows for sure, but I will tell you one thing. I have a handsome four and a half year old that loves the Lord in such a way that God himself must have reached down that day and touched his soul.

And the Greatest of these is Love

“This is my command: Love each other.” –John 15:17

     Think back to a time when your heart was overwhelmed with love for someone else. Maybe it was while you were watching your newborn baby sleep or staring into the eyes of your spouse on your wedding day.  Whatever the occasion, I’m sure you remember the intense feelings that overcame you. Your heart may have skipped a few beats or you might have had trouble catching your breath.

     This is the same love God has for us. He watches us while we are sleeping and I’d bet that He is just as overwhelmed by His love for us. Why else would He send his Son to die for us? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 is probably one of the most quoted verses in the Bible, and for good reason. God so loved us. He loved us so much that even though we sin and continue to try to live the way we want, He still so loves us.

     In the book of John, chapter 15, Jesus refers to himself as the vine, his Father as the gardener and we are the branches. About 13 times in the first 10 verses Jesus reminds us that we must remain in Him and his love if we want to be successful in whatever we do. Remaining in Jesus and his love allows the Father to work on us (pruning……it can be painful sometimes!) so that we do become more like Christ was. If we turn away from Jesus and his love for us, the Father has no reason to prune us anymore and He will just remove us from the vine. However, if we keep Christ’s word and love within us (see Proverbs 3:3 in the margin) we will bring glory to the Father.

     In verses 11-17 of John chapter 15, Jesus tells the disciples the reason for remaining in Him. What is the reason we need to keep His word and love within us? So that we may have joy and we may be called His friend. Verse 13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This is exactly what Christ did for us. He came to live among us, as one of us. He gave us a clear example of how to live like Him and love like He loved. Then He showed us what true love really is…….He died in our place.

     Christ’s command in John 15, verses 12 and 17 was to love each other as He loves us. This might be easy if you only think about your family. Of course we love them and would lay down our lives for them. But what about our neighbors, co-workers, and people we pass by every day at the store or in their cars and those people we have never even met? Do we love them as Jesus would? Would we trade our lives to save them?

Lord,

Thank you for your love and for sending your Son to show us what true love really is. Please help us to love as you would. We don’t always think about others first so we pray that you will guide us with your Holy Spirit so that we will remain in you and your love.  -Amen

Building Your Relationship with God

     Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do no see” (NIV). If you are growing in your faith, your personal relationship with God is becoming stronger and you are becoming more and more certain that God is at work. There will be a deep trust between you and your Creator and a powerful knowledge of His will for your life. There will also be a hunger for constant communication with Him. Now, the methods you use to develop this relationship will be as unique as you are, however, there are a few things that are necessary for any relationship to be successful. You need trust, knowledge of the other person involved and communication, lots of communication. 

     Let’s start with trust. Trust is difficult in any relationship. You won’t feel like growing a relationship if you don’t think you can trust the other party involved. This holds true for our relationship with God as well. If you don’t think you can trust that God has your best interests at heart, you will have trouble with your faith. But the great thing is that God doesn’t expect us to trust blindly. He has given us plenty of examples through His word of His trustworthiness. He promised Abraham a son in his old age and He delivered. He promised to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and He did, with no shortage of miracles along the way. All we have to do is read through the Old Testament to see God over and over again proving His trustworthiness.

     And it doesn’t stop in the Old Testament. Think about this: Would you trust someone who was willing to give up His own son in order for you to have life? That’s what He did. He sent the ultimate proof that He is worthy of our trust by sending his son to die in our place. It is hard to grasp sometimes, but Jesus was a real, live, flesh and blood man that felt hunger, thirst, pain and all the other things we experience on a daily basis. Then He died a horrific, painful death just because He loved us and wants our trust. In John 14:1 Jesus tells us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; also trust in me.” Take heart friends, He wouldn’t command us to trust Him if He wasn’t worthy of our trust.

     Knowledge of God’s will for your life can also help deepen your relationship with Him. How does God provide us with that knowledge? He gives us His word. Literally. The Bible is full of instruction on how God’s wants us to live our lives, and if we are the Christians we profess to be, we will seek this knowledge on a regular basis. In John Ortberg’s book titled “The Me I Want to Be” he reminds us that “only God knows your full potential, and he is guiding you toward that best version of yourself all the time.” God wants us to know what his will for our life is and He will guide us into that place if we are willing to go. All we have to do is spend time in His word, trust His guidance, and ask Him to keep us on track.

     That brings us to communication. Sometimes, communication can be the hardest part of a relationship. I think this is especially true in our relationship with God. He doesn’t respond in the typical way, does he? We have to learn to listen for God’s voice throughout our day. Sometimes He will respond directly to us through his word and we know it’s Him. Other times He will respond through someone else, through a situation we are dealing with or maybe even a book we are reading. Regardless of how He responds, if you are not actively listening and watching for His response, you will miss it. Growing this part of your relationship may seem the hardest. How do you find time in your busy day to talk to God? And how do know that you haven’t missed his answer? The demands of your job and home life may make you feel like you don’t have the proper time to spend communicating with God. While it is important to spend some quiet time alone with God everyday, that doesn’t mean that He won’t value the short, seemingly broken conversations you may have with Him during your busy day. A quote from Thomas Kelly’s book “A Testament of Devotion” sums up this concept beautifully:

“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”

     Moses’ words to the Israelites serve as a reminder to us all, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). Make the Lord your life, and He will not fail to lead you if you hold to his teachings, trust him and listen to his voice.

God Loves Us

Through out the month of April, I want to help remind you of God's love for us. Easter is the most important holiday we celebrate as Christians. Without the crucifixion and the resurrection, where would we be? One of the most remembered verses of the Bible is John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Really think about that. Would you give your one and only son so that everyone, including some of the worst criminal minds you can think of, could have eternal life? I don't think I could. Thankfully, we don't have to make that decision. God already did it for us!

Newsletter Update

I am almost through with the series on the Fruits of the Spirit. Gentleness and Peace are also things you would find in God's vault. I hope you have enjoyed the articles but most of all, I hope they have helped you to grow in your faith in Christ.


Blessings,
Rachel

Finding Peace in a World of Conflict

     If someone asked you what peace is, how would you define it? Would you say it is a feeling of well being or tranquility? Would you agree with dictionary.com and say that it is the normal, non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world (dictionary.reference.com/browse/peace)? Would you base your definition on what the world thinks peace is or what God tells us peace is? The book of Romans, chapter 12 verse 2 says “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” How do we transform our thoughts on peace so that they don’t conform to this world?

     According to the New International Bible Dictionary, peace is the presence of God, not the absence of conflict (p.761). Now this is a definition that I agree with! The presence of God provides peace. If we want to have peace in our lives, we must seek God daily. Not just at Sunday or Wednesday night services. God must be an ever present presence if we want to keep peace in our hearts and minds. God sent his son Jesus for that purpose. He did not come to bring peace to the world as Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 reminds us. He came to bring peace to those who believe in Him and what He did.

     Jesus came to bring peace to our hearts and minds, regardless of the state of our world. In the book of John, chapter 16, verse 33 Christ tells us, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” What “things” is Christ referring to? He is talking about how the world will try to lead us astray and how the world won’t believe in Him and his sacrifice. He is talking about how we can overcome the world through Him and also make our eternal homes with God.

     In that same book of John, in chapter 14, verse 27, Christ says “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” If Christ does not give as the world gives, then we should not take as the world takes. Don’t take the worlds definition of peace into your hearts but instead be transformed by the peace that Jesus left us. Dictionary.com would have a better definition if they said peace is the normal, non-warring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world once those individuals have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ!

    

A Gentle Whisper

As women, we often see ourselves as the gentler sex. But is this always true? Are we always as gentle and loving as we could be? Most of us would say probably not. Gentleness is something that we have to work at. We are not given gentleness in abundance just because we are women. Thankfully we have been given plenty of advice on how to be gentle and plenty of examples to guide us. All we have to do is open the Bible.

     In the Old Testament in the book of first Kings in chapter nineteen we have the story of Elijah running away from Jezebel (a woman who definitely needed some gentleness coaching!). After a lengthy journey the word of the Lord appears to Elijah and he is told to go stand on a mountain for the presence of the Lord is about to pass by (see verse eleven). Elijah waits through a powerful wind, an earthquake, and a fire but that is not how the Lord came. The last part of verse twelve tells us that after the fire “came a gentle whisper.” The Lord doesn’t come to us in great shows of power; He comes to us gently, with a whisper. I have found the hardest part is listening for that gentle whisper. What about you? Do you make time each day to listen for God’s gentle whisper?

     God sent His son to us in the most gentle and humble way possible: a baby. He could have sent His Son in a blazing show of power the first time, but He chose to send Him as a little baby boy. If you have children, think back to the first moment you held your baby. Do you remember the incredible love and gentleness that flowed through your body at that time? I do! I will never forget it. That is the same love and gentleness that God has for us. Christ came and lived a gentle life, never abusing the power that was rightly His. The book of Zechariah, chapter nine verse nine foretold how Christ would come into Jerusalem “gentle and riding a donkey.” And He did! Everything He does is done gently, without outrageous displays of power. Are there times when you have chosen to do something gently, without displaying your power? What about times when you could have been gentler and instead you used a harsh word or punishment?

     I recently learned that there is only one passage in the Bible where Jesus describes Himself. It is found in the book of Matthew, chapter eleven. In verses twenty-eight through thirty Christ tells us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Of all the descriptive words Christ could have used for himself, He chose to remind us that He is gentle. I am very thankful for that reminder and I hope you will be too. Make this your verse(s) to remember for the month of February. You can go to the Lord whenever you are “weary and burdened” from this life and He will give you all you need.

The Spiritual Woman E-Newsletter

Hi everyone. I hope that you are all having a great year. I wanted to let you know about my newsletter. It is a monthly newsletter for women with an encouraging, Christian focus. I would love to encourage you this year in your everyday life and in your walk with Christ! Please let me know if you would like to receive the newsletter. It comes out the first week of every month. Send me an email at tsote@ymail.com or just leave a comment here with your email address. May God bless you and yours this year!

Kindness-It's in the Vault!

A Resolution of Kindness

     This is the season of making resolutions. We resolve to lose weight, eat healthier, or go to the gym more. Some of you may resolve to quit a particular bad habit or to save more money. Whatever your resolution may be now is the time when you are pepped up and ready to go! This year, this month, I would like to challenge you to make a resolution to be more kind. More kindness is what this world needs, and as women, we should resolve to be more kind to everyone we encounter (yes, this includes our husbands!).

     We have the ultimate example of kindness in our savior Jesus Christ. He is kindness. He is love. He is everything we should strive to be. The Bible is full of instructions on being kind. Philippians chapter two, verses three and four say, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

     One of my favorite books right now is called The Power of a Positive Women, by Karol Ladd. She says, “Love in action boosts people to greater heights of development and growth than words or good intentions alone.” What is love in action? It’s not just asking your neighbor who has just become a new mother if she needs help with meals or housework; it’s showing up with dinner and your grungies on so you can help. It’s not letting your elderly neighbor rake up all those leaves by himself. It’s not mumbling loudly when the person in front of you in the express lane clearly has more than 15 items; it’s helping put them on the conveyor. Actions speak louder than words and 1 John 3:18 sums it up. “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”

     We need to remember to do good things and be kind to one another and not to live the way we did before Christ came into our lives (see Titus 3:1-8). It is because of His kindness and mercy that we have hope. This month, I challenge you to share that same kindness with others and spread hope this new year.