In case you missed it, February 6 was Pay a Compliment Day.
I know you all observed this day.
Actually, you probably didn't.
If you're like me, paying compliments doesn't come easily. Yet we all love compliments! Mark Twain said, "I could live a month on one good compliment." They are easy to give, and they don't cost a thing. But why do we have such a hard time giving them?
I found out about "compliment day" because of Zach. In his morning devotional for February 6, it mentioned that this was the particular day we were all supposed to compliment someone. While he was telling us about this, the national news had begun playing in the background, and I began hearing all the negative things that had happened overnight. And it hit me - it's so much easier for us to be negative than to be positive about anything these days.
Why is that? Why can't we just be nice? One of the first verses I learned started off with, "Be ye kind." (Ephesians 4:32, KJV) We're taught kindness from the moment we step into elementary school. But somewhere along the way, we lose our capacity for basic kindness and the art of paying someone a compliment. What has happened to us?
The simple answer to that is that life happened to us. We all have gotten beat up by the world. People have been downright mean to us. We haven't received a compliment when we've done something we thought was pretty great. Tragedy has hit us hard. We're tired. But kindness and its counterpart compassion are things that God has commanded us to be if we are in Christ.
The rest of Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Colossians 3:12-14 says, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
The Message Bible begins the previous verses by saying, "Dress in the wardrobe God picked for you." He meant for us to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Those verses have hit me hard in the past couple of days. As I have wrestled with them, I have realized how often I am not those things. I have repented before God and asked Him to change my heart.
But did you notice in both verses what goes with kindness and compassion?
Forgiveness.
Forgiving others as we have been forgiven.
That's a hard one. When we've been beat up, we have a hard time forgiving. Yet we are told by Jesus Himself that if we don't forgive, He won't forgive us. (Matthew 6:15) We need to do the work of forgiving others so that we are able to be kind enough to compliment someone even when we don't feel like it. To show compassion to someone who may not deserve our compassion. To be nice in a world that can be downright mean.
Lysa TerKeurst said, "Quiet moments of compassion are epic moments of battle." Do battle against mean. Forgive. Be kind. Offer compassion. And give someone a compliment today!
For further reading:
365 Trivia Twist Devotions
It's Not Supposed to be This Way, Lysa TerKeurst
I know you all observed this day.
Actually, you probably didn't.
If you're like me, paying compliments doesn't come easily. Yet we all love compliments! Mark Twain said, "I could live a month on one good compliment." They are easy to give, and they don't cost a thing. But why do we have such a hard time giving them?
I found out about "compliment day" because of Zach. In his morning devotional for February 6, it mentioned that this was the particular day we were all supposed to compliment someone. While he was telling us about this, the national news had begun playing in the background, and I began hearing all the negative things that had happened overnight. And it hit me - it's so much easier for us to be negative than to be positive about anything these days.
Why is that? Why can't we just be nice? One of the first verses I learned started off with, "Be ye kind." (Ephesians 4:32, KJV) We're taught kindness from the moment we step into elementary school. But somewhere along the way, we lose our capacity for basic kindness and the art of paying someone a compliment. What has happened to us?
The simple answer to that is that life happened to us. We all have gotten beat up by the world. People have been downright mean to us. We haven't received a compliment when we've done something we thought was pretty great. Tragedy has hit us hard. We're tired. But kindness and its counterpart compassion are things that God has commanded us to be if we are in Christ.
The rest of Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."
Colossians 3:12-14 says, "Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
The Message Bible begins the previous verses by saying, "Dress in the wardrobe God picked for you." He meant for us to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient. Those verses have hit me hard in the past couple of days. As I have wrestled with them, I have realized how often I am not those things. I have repented before God and asked Him to change my heart.
But did you notice in both verses what goes with kindness and compassion?
Forgiveness.
Forgiving others as we have been forgiven.
That's a hard one. When we've been beat up, we have a hard time forgiving. Yet we are told by Jesus Himself that if we don't forgive, He won't forgive us. (Matthew 6:15) We need to do the work of forgiving others so that we are able to be kind enough to compliment someone even when we don't feel like it. To show compassion to someone who may not deserve our compassion. To be nice in a world that can be downright mean.
Lysa TerKeurst said, "Quiet moments of compassion are epic moments of battle." Do battle against mean. Forgive. Be kind. Offer compassion. And give someone a compliment today!
For further reading:
365 Trivia Twist Devotions
It's Not Supposed to be This Way, Lysa TerKeurst
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