To Love Kindness
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (NRSV)
This week we’re unpacking what it means to “do good” in God’s eyes. And in an age when the line between good and evil has never been more blurred, knowing what ‘doing good’ is has never been more important.
Okay … so you wake up in the morning and, as you roll out of bed, the thing on your heart is simply to do good – to be the best “you” that you can be to have a positive impact on the lives of those around you. But what does that actually mean?
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (NRSV)
Yesterday we explored what it means to “do justice”. Today, let’s unpack this whole “to love kindness” thing.
I don’t have to tell you how powerful even the smallest act of kindness can be. You’ve been there … perhaps feeling fragile, dealing with this or that, and a simple smile or word of encouragement from someone has lit up your whole day.
But there’s a distinction, I think, between being kind, and loving kindness. For someone like me who doesn’t naturally see, for instance, that the person over there might be feeling down, kindness can be a hit and miss affair.
But to love kindness means to have it front of mind; to be looking for opportunities to be kind; to consciously override any feelings of animosity towards someone or just the generally grumpy mood you might be in, with an overwhelming desire to be kind over and over again.
What does the Lord require of you? To love kindness.
That’s His Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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