Be Kind

Be Kind

Genesis 37:3 – Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was a son born to him late in life, and he made a special tunic for him. 4 – When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated Joseph and were not able to speak to him kindly.

My mind goes back to my high school days and all the drama that I tried my best to stay out of.  There were always kids that were easy to pick on and others that were easy to like.  Has it really changed much after all these years?  Are there still people that are hard to like?  Why?  Are they super talented?  Are they super popular?  Or maybe they’re not attractive or have sour dispositions.  Maybe it’s other factors entirely.

Joseph’s brothers noticed they were loved differently by their father.  They all loved their father so they spoke harshly to their brother.  We all have a heavenly Father.  We know that He loves us all the same.  “For God so loved the world…” begins one of the most loved verses in all Scripture.  Sometimes it doesn’t appear that way and we behave towards each other differently.

One of the things I was made aware of when I took a unit of hospital chaplaincy was the art of recognizing my feelings towards other people in the health care setting.  This awareness helped me focus on making sure I was caring for them and not myself.  We regularly shared our interactions with each other in the chaplaincy program to analyze whether our actions were motivated by a sense of their need or by wanting to meet our own.  It really showed me moments where my kindness was misguided and motivated out of a need to protect me and not them.

Joseph’s brothers were unable to speak kindly to Joseph because they felt threatened and didn’t even realize it (Joseph’s dreams didn’t help).  We may also feel unable to be kind because we feel threatened as well and not even see what’s happening to ourselves.  Let’s start the day with Jesus and bring those feelings to Him knowing that while we were still sinners, He died for us – (Romans 5:8).  May God open our eyes so we can see who we are and grant to us the miracle of practicing kindness.