Romans 2:1-11

“Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leaded thee to repentance?” (v.4)

What of Today’s Verse…

We continue looking at counterfeit forms of kindness. Kindness is not indulgence.  Supernatural kindness can be severe — severe because it loves so deeply that it can come up with a hard refusal.  It is based on God’s kindness, which can cut when, just like a surgeon, He insists on cutting out of us moral tumours that threaten our spiritual health.  But always God’s severity is our security.  It is redemptive; He loves us too much to let us go. Kindness, which is the fruit of the Spirit, is like that.

Again, kindness is not a substitute for clear thinking.  In being “kind” to one person, people can often be unkind to another.  The wrong kindness — that is, kindness that does not operate on clear guidelines and right thinking — can deride justice.  For example, a businessperson remarked to his wife that he was dismissing the chauffeur because he was an unsafe driver.  “He nearly killed me today,” he said.  “That is the third time.”  His “kind” wife answered:  “Oh, don’t dismiss him, dear — give him one more chance.  “Another example of misguided kindness comes out of the law courts.  A woman on trial for murdering her husband was acquitted chiefly because of the efforts of one “kind” woman on the jury.  Explaining her attitude to someone after the trial, she said, “I felt so sorry for her.  After all, she had become a widow.”  By such examples as these, “kindness” has become a debased word — a fact that can hardly be denied.  People have found it easier to be “kind” than truthful.  How desperately the word cries out to be redeemed.

Let us Pray:

O God, take my hand and lead me through the fog and confusion that surrounds this word.  Help me understand that true kindness can be a cutting kindness — kindness that gives life and not lenience.  Amen.

Words of Wisdom

GOD FIRST

Our Lord trusted no man; yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, never in despair about any man, because He put God first in trust; He trusted absolutely in what God’s grace could do for any man.  If I put my trust in human beings first, I will end in despairing of everyone; I will become bitter, because I have insisted on man being what no man ever can be — right.  Never trust anything but the grace of God in yourself or in anyone else.

Put God’s Needs First. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, 0 God.”  Hebrews 10:9

A man’s obedience is to what he sees to be a need; Our Lord’s obedience was to the will of His Father.  The cry to-day is — “We must get some work to do; the heathen are dying without God; we must go and tell them of Him.”  We have to see first that God’s needs in us personally are being met.  “Tarry ye until. . . .”  The purpose of this College is to get us rightly related to the needs of God.  When God’s needs in us have been met, then He will open the way for us to realize His needs elsewhere.

Put God’s Trust First.  “And whoso received one such little child in my name received Me.”  Matthew 18:5

God’s trust is that He gives me Himself as a babe.  God expects my personal life to be a “Bethlehem.”  Am I allowing my natural life to be slowly transfigured by the indwelling life of the Son of God?  God’s ultimate purpose is that His Son might be manifested in my mortal flesh.

Put God First in Trust. “Jesus did not commit Himself unto them . . . for He knew what was in man.”  John 2:24-25