One of the greatest influences in my ministerial career is Brother Clarence Deloach. He is always there to offer an encouraging word and advice on sermon prep, evangelism strategies, and just ministering to people in general. I have been blessed to be able to preach a few of his sermons and I often use his sermon outlines as templates when making my own. One of my favorite sermons that he has preached and that I later preached was entitled "Try a Little Kindness." The title is taken from one of country music star Glen Campbell's hit songs. In today's article, I'm going to share some thoughts from that sermon.
1. What is kindness? The word "kindness" comes from the root word that means to be useful, good, helpful, or suitable. I Corinthians 3:4 tells us that "Love is kind." Kindness is love in practical and personal ways.
2. Why should we be kind? Because God has been kind to us. He saved us through His lovingkindness. Titus 3:4-5 tells us "But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Jesus' coming to this world is God's kindness. Ephesians 4:32 tells us that we should "Therefore be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you." Paul tells the church at Ephesus that we have received kindness from Jesus, so we should show kindness to Him and others in return. How else will the world see Christ in us?
3. When should we be kind? Paul tells us in Galatians 6:10 "As we have opportunity, let us do good." Opportunities will come for us to be kind, but oftentimes we let those opportunities slip away. Consider the story of the Good Samaritan from Luke 10:25-37. The man had his opportunity to be kind or not. He stopped, he helped that man. He offered no excuses. All around us today are opportunities to be like the Samaritan man. There are people that are bruised financially, emotionally, spiritually, and domestically. The chief enemy of kindness is business. We get so busy that we forget to or put off doing an act of kindness. You can't do an act of kindness too soon because you never know how soon it may be too late.
4. Where should we be kind? We should be kind in times of conflict and quarrels. Paul tells us in II Timothy 2:24 "The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle." There are always going to be times of conflict, but we need to be careful when we get into an argument, lest we win the argument, but lose our respect. People both inside and outside the church are watching how we react in times of conflict. Kindness can be the most powerful sermon ever preached. When we are engaged in conversation with another person, we have to remember that our words can bless or burn or hurt or heal. But the area where we should be the most kind, is in our homes. Why is it that we are sometimes the most unkind to those we love the most? We can be so cutting to those who mean the most to us. Many marriages could be saved with a little kindness, and when it comes to raising children, Psalm 18:35 tells us "Thy gentleness has made me great."
In the society that we live in, especially with the rise of social media, it's harder and harder for us to be kind. Whether it's arguing about politics, sports, or religion, people just find it hard to be kind. What is the solution? The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Vanderbilt University announced that head football coach Derek Mason will return for the 2020 season even though he currently holds a 2-8 record this season. In the past 24 hours social media has blown up with unkind words directed to Mason and athletics director Malcolm Turner. Sure people are frustrated, as am I, but unkind words will not solve the problem. Strive to live more like Jesus each day and be a good example by the way you treat others!!
In Him,
Carver Moore
We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.
Our service times are as follows:
Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am
Sunday morning worship: 11 am
Sunday evening worship: 5 pm
Great job!
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