Today I would like you to think about how your heart and its motivations will impact others. While it is very important for our heart to be right, none of us live alone on an island. With the internet and modern conveniences, you can make a conscious decision to avoid people if you want. However, sooner or later you are going to have to deal with others and their loving or unloving nature.  Not always fun, but it stretches us. It makes us better because we have to get outside of ourselves. We have to adjust or adapt. No one has it all right any more than no single person has all the answers. So, today, the question is how do we maintain consistency with others and bless them in the process?

Our “Issues with Others” will focus on Patience, Kindness and Goodness. Obviously these characteristics cannot occur in a vacuum. They remind us that we need others and others need to see God’s fruit – especially those we love. They can be our greatest challenge at times. You must prove to them that you are a “Christian” as well as to those in the outside world. However, it is family and friends that will help us hone these skills because we are stuck with each other. That’s good. God knew what we needed.

Let’ see what Paul meant with these three notions.

The Biblical word for Patience is: “Makrothumia” and it means getting results without complaint while displaying the quality of self-restraint. Inherently the concept means the person has been provoked, annoyed, irritated, experienced misfortune or been pushed to a point of frustration or anger by someone. However, it also indicates the person has maintained a level of caring perseverance like God’s patience with all of us (2 Peter 3:9.) It also reminds me we should do the same for others – whether we want to or not. I know I must love the “hard to love” because I have been that to you and others.

The Greek word “Chrestotes” describes Kindness as a person’s ability to be merciful, easy to get along with, morally good and upright. The person exhibits an eagerness to put others at ease with a sweet temperament that displays tender regard and concern for others without exhibiting weakness or a lack of conviction. It is a a nurturing spirit. I love what C. S Lewis says of it: The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he ‘likes’ them: The Christian, trying to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on – including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning. Don’t forget you can quench someone’s anger with this! (Proverbs 26:21)

Paul used the word Agathosune” to depict Goodness. It illustrates someone who is useful, generous, benevolent and whose actions result in good works. It communicates a person’s selfless desire to be generous to others even when they don’t deserve it. Lewis has this to say about goodness: “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a sun house does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.” That quote always brings me back to our beginning concept and how we must focus on the core issues in order to be able to cope with others.

Guys and Gals, this is a tough one at times, but not one that is insurmountable. Our personalities are our biggest challenges. A close second is our selfishness and unwillingness to adapt or change. We must possess these characteristics because they impact other’s view of us and Christ living in us. You are up to it – on both good and bad days! I know it’s in you because the Spirit is! Love Dad