Monday, August 20, 2012

Urge Students To Show Kindness

With what shall I come before you LORD and bow down before the exalted God?

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

-- Micah 6:6-8

Children all across our area are heading back to school today. Some are excited. Some are bummed out. Some are filled with anxiety.

At church Sunday, we had the traditional blessing of the backpacks. During the Children’s Moment, Pastor Danny asked if anyone was excited about going back to school. No response from the kids. Their parents were loudly applauding.

It can be an exciting time. It can also be an awful, traumatic time for those kids who are left out, ridiculed, bullied. I’d like to think we’re more sensitive about these things now but, truthfully, children can be especially cruel.

Each of the children today received a sticker for their backpacks with the word THINK written on it. Pastor Danny explained why. He urged the children to THINK about their words before they say them, to ask themselves if the comment is HELPFUL, to use words to INSPIRE, to ask themselves if the words are NECESSARY, and to be KIND at all times.

I pray all the adults listening in heard the message as well. Because we all could, and should, be more thoughtful in what we say. Words wound. And, no matter how many times we apologize, nothing can ever erase them.

Another friend, a retired teacher, shared a Facebook post urging students to be kind to others. Kindness is one of the best and greatest gifts we can give to anyone. Why does it sometimes seem so hard? A smile, a friendly word, an acknowledgement that the other person exists can mean so much.

In every school hallway today there likely will be at least one student who is new, one who feels embarrassed because he/she isn’t dressed in the “it” style, and one who is an outsider, no matter how long he’s been in that school system. So take a moment to remind your kids to be nice. To think. To smile. To be helpful. To be kind. Because kindness is a gift. It is a way we show others who Jesus is within us.

　

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Your Only Boss Is God

The LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. -- Micah 6:8

What do other people expect of you? What do you expect of yourself? And what does God expect of you?

Wow. When you look at it like that, it all just seems so overwhelming. How can anyone possibly be all things to all people and to God too? No wonder we’re so stressed out.

But wait a minute. We’re not called to meet the expectations of other people. We’re not even called to please them. Oh, we’re to love them. But we don’t have to make them happy.

As for ourselves, well, we’re to do what God calls us to do. Nothing more. Nothing less. Because the only boss we’ve got is God. And He loves us.

We spend our lives trying to please people who will never truly be pleased. Because we can never do enough for them. It’s sort of like laundry. It never ends. Just when you think you’ve got it conquered, there’s that pile again. And so it goes. That’s how it is with pleasing people. Endless.

The same is true when we expect too much from ourselves. We believe what others tell us. We buy into those lies of having it all. We fill each and every moment of our day with activities and call ourselves living. But our days are endless and our hearts are empty. It’s a roller coaster that never ends.

Maybe we don’t want it to end. Because if we face the stillness that remains we realize all that we’re not. We don’t measure up to who we always thought we should be. More pressure. More disappointment. More stress and disillusionment with ourselves.

And there is God. Waiting. Calling us softly to Himself. Telling us that we are enough. He created us to be the unique and wonderful individuals that we are. We are enough -- just as we are.

So where do all those expectations come from? A world focused on self rather than Savior. A world of endless drudgery and sin rather than a world filled with light and love. We’ve lost our focus. We’ve forgotten how to determine what’s important and what is not.

So stop worrying about what others expect from you. And ease up on yourself. God’s got a plan for your life and it’s good. Stay focused on Him and let someone else deal with all the rest.