Where Did Kindness Go!!

I first want to say I am talking about little acts of kindness, those things that I did for David when we first got married, and for some years, then slowly I just stopped. Ephesians 4:32 says " Be kind to one another, tender-hearted,forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has forgiven you." I can certainly say God has been patient with me, forgiving me of sins I repeated over and over. God has shown his love through kindness by forgiving me, and most of all by sending his son Jesus to die for my sins. Do you remember when you were dating your spouse or when you first got married, and you wanted to please him in everything you did? This book is showing me how I have become selfish and stopped doing these things for David. One thing I have had to open my eyes to is when I show kindness to David or really to anyone it is not about what I get in return. It is showing my love for them by being kind and loving them enough to do these little things. I used to have things ready for David in the mornings, his breakfast, a glass of coke which is what he drinks all the time. Now I lie in the bed wishing he would be quiet! I am not saying there is anything wrong with sleeping in, we all love to do that, but I know for me he is the one going out working long hours to make a living for us, and I can show him my love by getting up if not every morning, at least some mornings and have breakfast with him. We could talk about what his day may consist of, and pray together before he leaves. This is something I always saw my Mom do for Daddy, but I have become selfish, and want to just be lazy. What if David decided to just be lazy? The book tells us there are two cornerstones of love, Patience, and Kindness. Patience with my spouse avoids negative circumstances and kindness maximizes a positive circumstance. Kindness is broken down into four basic ingredients, gentleness, helpfullness, willingness, and initiative. First lets look at gentleness, how we treat our spouse. I have to ask myself am I being sensitive to David's needs? Am I being tender and loving to him? Not when I think of self first, wow this book is really showing me how selfish I am! Am I helping or do I sit back and do nothing because I am waiting for him to do his? This seems to be something I hear a lot from younger couples. I just know anytime something needs doing, housework, yardwork, whatever, I can not choose to sit and wait to see if he does anything, I have to show my love by being helpful, doing things out of love, not being selfish. Being willing is deciding to be agreeable. Not be stubborn, which as I see again this is all about not being selfish in our relationship. The last one is initiative, am I waiting for kindness or will I take the first step to offer that extra hug, to smile, to serve first, and forgive first? Wow, again this is about doing what I did when I wanted David, and when he was most important to me, it is about putting away self, and doing for the man I love, and has chosen me to be his wife. I have to remember that love in its truest form is not based on feelings, it is showing love expecting nothing in return, and being kind in all my words and actions to David. These verses in the Bible again show me and you how kindness is important. Proverbs 31:26, Luke 10, the entire chapter, and Proverbs 3: 3-4. My heart is filled with love and I want to thank God for being love. He sent his son to die for me, asking nothing in return except just to love. Jesus showed the ultimate love by taking my sins upon that cross and suffering, and dying. I just want to thank God that Jesus rose from that grave to give me eternal life in love. I sit here an smile when I think about love. As kids we never doubted , or I was very blessed to have parents that I never had to doubt their love for me. The years passed and I wanted to be loved by a man, to be his wife, have his children and grow old with him. God blessed me with I believe the most loving man in this world. David loves me. I pray that I will put away this selfishness and give David the love he deserves with kindness and patience. I hope others are blessed with this writing, that is my intent. I praise God for who he is, I praise Jesus for being my Lord, and Savior, I thank God for the Holy Spirit who guides and convicts me. I ask God to show me ways to be kind to David, and to all who I meet, and greet today. The dare for this day was to continue to say nothing negitive to my spouse, plus do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness for your wife or husband.