Twelve Days of Kindness-Day 8!

We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 2 Corinthians 6:3-7 NKJV

On this 8th day of kindness, we are reminded by Paul that everything we do--EVERYTHING--should align with the Word so that we don't offend anyone by what we do. This is especially true for those who are called by God to teach His Word and are walking--in life--according to His Word.

Sometimes, the truth offends people, but the truth must be told anyway. Now, do we sugarcoat truth or just tell it like it is? If a person is offended by truth, no matter how we try to water it or soften the blow--they're going to be offended. As one actor poignantly stated, "You can't handle the truth."

Why is it that people cannot handle truth? Our perceptions of truth or what is true, are not always based upon truth as it really is. If we are blinded by our bias, our perceptions are cloudy and when people speak truth to us--we don't accept it as truth because it is in opposition to how we want to conduct our lives.

For instance, there are some people who are natural leaders and some who simply want to be leaders, but they lack the intellect to know what true, effective leaders do. But because they have convinced themselves they know more than those who try to assist them, they become offended by truth because the truth reveals to them what they lack.

The truth reveals to all of us what we lack and what we must change within ourselves and how we do things. Since none of us knows everything there is to know, we must count on others to keep us honest by reminding us when we're headed in the wrong direction. Considering our own ineptitude about so many things, someone has written a book about everything any of us could ever experience in life. Their opinion in what they write doesn't necessarily constitute truth, but it is enough to make us think and either confirm or refute what we think we know.

But if our desire is to please God, then we should demonstrate our ability to be patient and kind, as it pertains to what we must accomplish in our ministry that honors Him.

Are we ready to demonstrate all that God desires for us to do? Today is a good day to honor Him by our extending kindness in showing patience, and acting in truth, according to God's Word, and not our feelings.