Sunday — Be kind

Happy Sabbath to you! And what a wonderful day to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 

I have to admit that I watched a little football yesterday. I do love some college football. And I’ll watch just about anyone play just because I love it. One of my pet peeves with the game is when the other team takes the field, the crowd boos. I just hate that. You wouldn’t have a game if they didn’t come. It just doesn’t seem very hospitable or like you have good manners. 

I saw a couple of commercials yesterday that i liked. If you watched any on ESPN or ABC, you may have seen Herbstreit and Desmond Howard doing a spot to advertise a contest where you can enter by tweeting something nice about your rival and #sweet-talk. In this day where we continually hear people saying horrible things about each other, it’s a really nice idea. And chick-fil-a had one where people were all dressed up in one team’s gear on the way to the game —the Alabama and Florida State game I think. They staged a breakdown to see if other fans would stop to help them get to the game. And sure enough, they did. It was a sweet idea. 

And both are reminders to us of the instructions laid out to the church at Thessalonica by Paul in his first letter to them. 

“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Sometimes that’s a tough order. When someone treats us poorly, we are ready to get them back, aren’t we? That’s the old man in us—the one Paul said he had to kill dead every day. Sometimes I think I may have to kill the old Pam a couple of times a day but because of the grace of God, I have the power and authority to get rid of that old I-want-my-own-way self. The one that can completely ruin my attitude and make my life miserable. Why on earth would I want to live like that??

And just right after telling us to not pay back evil for evil, we are told to be joyful and given the formula for how to do all of that.  

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:16-19, 21-22‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Did you see how he slid that in there? Never stop praying. The only way any of this is possible. Then, in the middle of it all is the core—be thankful, hold to what is good and stay away from evil. Like several places we find in the letters of Paul, he tries to wrap up his letter in a few words and tie a bow on them. It’s almost as if he’s saying “If you don’t remember anything else Thessalonica, just don’t return bad for bad, hold on to good, and stay away from evil...”.

So on this Sunday, let’s be thankful, be kind to those who are not, be joyful, hold fast to what is good, stay away from evil and above all...never stop praying. 

Love you dear friend,

Pam

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