LOVINGKINDNESS?

Today and a recent Saturday found our church people ministering for the Lord in various ways. We 1) painted a house; 2) built a wooden playset for a family to celebrate their adoption of a little boy; and 3) put on a free yard sale where we gave away nice items to a community, thus sharing the love of Christ.

Our church people have a heart to work. How thrilling. An old poem says,

Only one life,
Twill soon be past,
Only what's done
For Christ will last.

How true that is. Sometimes we get so caught up in our work and hobbies, we lose sight of this principle. Today, I saw people ministering for Christ, and it warmed my heart. And if it warmed my heart, how much more did it warm the Father's?

Jesus taught us in Matthew that if we give even a cup of cold water to someone, we will be rewarded. He was teaching us about kindness and extending love to others. In these three activities I mentioned above, people were not only being kind, they were displaying lovingkindness.

You ask what's the difference? Kindness? Lovingkindness?

It's like this: One day, a Sunday school teacher asked her young students what was the difference between kindness and lovingkindness? Johnny threw his hand up in the air. "When I'm hungry," he said, "I ask my mommy for a snack. If she gives me an apple, that's kindness. But when she gives me a Little Debby cake, now that's lovingkindness."

Lovingkindness, spoken of in the Bible, means doing more than is expected; it means going the proverbial second mile, also talked about in the Bible; it means putting yourself out for others.

Okay, I'll start preaching here if I keep on.

I'll end with another verse: "Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…" (Colossians 3:17).

Now, I need to go scrape the paint off myself so I'll be presentable for church tomorrow.

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More pictures in the next post...