Show Kindness
The king then asked him, Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them in any way I can.”
-- 2 Samuel 9:3a
David had every reason to hate Saul and his family. But just as David refused to harm Saul, David also wanted to reach out to any of the late king’s family. He was led to Jonathan’s son.
How that must have pleased David’s heart. Saul had seen David as his enemy but Saul’s son, Jonathan, had been David’s closest friend. It seems fitting that David would care for Mephibosheth, just as Jonathan had cared for and protected David.
That isn’t always how it works. People blame the entire family when one person does something wrong. It’s why the spouse and children of someone who goes to prison pay such a heavy price. Or the parents of a wayward child. Or the employees of a company that does something wrong. We use a large brush and paint everyone guilty, even when there is no evidence to do so.
The same thing happens when one person in a family is an alcoholic. Everyone assumes the kids will grow up to be alcoholics as well. It might happen. But it might not. And sometimes assumptions lead someone to live down to what people expect. That’s just so sad.
A wonderful and successful man I know has faced this his entire life. His father was an alcoholic who frequented the city jail. Everyone expected the son would follow the father. But he hasn’t. Some people still expect him to stumble one day. They’ll never truly believe he’s anything different from what his father was.
Assumptions start early. I once tutored a little first grader. She was having trouble learning to read. Some kids do. She faced two major problems: her older brother was incredibly smart and her parents didn’t read well enough to help her. She was six years old and already assumed she was dumb. It broke my heart. She was smart. She just needed a little extra help, the kind of help most kids get at home.
It’s too bad we can’t all be like David. It would be wonderful if we reached out to the family of those who have made mistakes. It would be awesome if we could show kindness to those who have been
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