The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - The Power of Kindness

Episode Date: July 27, 2018

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven's show, Episode 74, The Power of Kindness. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show. Welcome to the show this week. I'm so glad you could take a few minutes and join me as we should.

share some good thoughts about being disciples of the Lord and adding a little bit to your life. I really look forward to this every single week where we get an opportunity to just talk about what it means to be a disciple, the good things the Lord is doing in my life, in your life. Share some tips on how to make a difference for His kingdom in the world. You know, as you watch the news every week, and I think I've said this before, but as you watch the news every week, I think sometimes it becomes a little bit discouraging for people when they listen to one news network and then they go back to the other and back and forth and they just listen to the arguing and the bantering and what I've been noticing more and more

is as I'm declining actually in the amount of time that I spend watching news is the unkind things that are said. And that's what I want to talk about this week is a bit about kindness. as a disciple of the Lord, because I truly believe that this is one of those ingredients of walking as a disciple of Jesus that is oftentimes overlooked. And I think that we're big, yay, on love, and love we should, and the love of God is amazing, the agape love. And I think sometimes kindness gets a little bit of a back seat, but that's an important point to actually bring out, and that is that kindness is not the equivalent of love. But love is an expression of kindness, and love is an invitation, or rather kindness is an invitation

to really experience the love of God. And I want to talk about kindness today. And maybe this is going to be great timing in your life, because perhaps you're going through something difficult at work, you're going through something difficult at home, your marriage. Maybe it's just the commute to work. And you run into traffic and you run into attitudes and you think to yourself, You know, this is kind of hard to be kind in today's society. But if we're not kind as the disciples of the Lord, then who is going to be kind? Who is going to be kind? And I think, you know, that we naturally like kind people, don't we?

This is something important to remember as a disciple of the Lord is that people do like kind people and people are attracted to kind people. kindness is one of the fruits of the spirit. It's a manifestation of life in the spirit, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's like Jesus said in gospel of John, he said in relationship to the vine and the branches, without me, you can do nothing. And I think that if we're going to walk in a natural kindness, that's good, but if we're going to walk in a supernatural kindness that comes from the heart of God, we have to have that relationship. with Jesus. And we have to have that fellowship with the Trinity where this beautiful fruit, one of the fruits of the Spirit, comes from. It is a manifestation, I think, of life in the Spirit. It's like literally a gathering of virtues that creates a very beautiful bouquet and that touches people's hearts. And I don't think we can underestimate. We can't underestimate the power of of kindness in people's lives. Kindness is to be friendly, generous, it's to be considerate.

And what I have noticed in the area of kindness many times is that it is accompanied by gentleness. And kindness is accompanied by patience and tenderness. It's like a gathering of virtues that has the potential to impact others' lives in such a big way. As I was thinking about kindness the last couple of weeks or so, maybe about the last week and a half, I was thinking about an encounter I had years ago at a hospital. And I was going out and I was visiting some people, some family members at a hospital. And it just was a very difficult week that week. And, you know, we all get there from time to time. And I was coming out of an elevator. And all of a sudden, I looked up and there was this young lady. They used to call them candy strippers. I don't know

if they have those anymore, but there were young ladies who were volunteers who were just excellent at kindness, you know, serving in the hospital. Anyway, the elevator door opens up, and there she is. I can't even remember exactly what she looked like. And she smiled at me, and she said, have a nice day. And she walked, she walked on, and I saw, sat there sort of stunned, and I thought, wow, just that smile and those kind words had such an impact on me. And her kindness literally changed my whole week. It lingered in my thinking and restored a bit of joy. And here I am now over 30 years later talking about that moment that had an impact on my week. Over 30 years ago, a young lady with a smile with really kind of.

words, and I never saw her again. Never saw her again after that. And that's, that's one of the amazing things, is that I never saw her again. And I wonder if there's been an opportunity in your life where somebody was so kind to you and, and you still remember it. I'd love to know about that. Give me a, give me a note. Just simply email me at the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. Now, I want to share something with you about kindness here that is really important. from the catechism. And I don't know if a lot of people are really aware of this and just how powerful kindness is and the drawing power of kindness. The catechism says in paragraph 215, and I'll put this in the show notes, it says, quote, the beginning of sin and of man's fall

was due to a lie of the tempter who induced three things, induced doubt of God's word, number one, number two, induced doubt of God's kindness, and number three, induced doubt of God's faithfulness. Did you get that? How powerful that really is? The beginning of sin. And of man's fall was due to the tempter who induced doubt. You can't believe in God's word. I would doubt that.

You can't believe in God's kindness. I would doubt that. And I would doubt his faithfulness. Those were the three things that the enemy came after. Now, when you think about those, those three things, they're incredibly important that if you're going to live a life of joy and purpose and you're going to have a sound mind, then you need to really have confidence in God's word, and you need to have confidence in his faithfulness. But you have to have confidence in his kindness, too. You ever think about that? The kindness of God.

knew about it. Paul said in Ephesians 2.7, he said that in the coming ages, he, Jesus, might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. So the disciple of Jesus will demonstrate the immeasurable riches of His grace by acting kind to others. And again, we are imitating Him who is showing his immeasurable riches in kind. You ever thought about that before? That God is literally demonstrating his immeasurable riches. How? In kindness. In kindness. So the disciple has the opportunity to do what? To imitate God. To imitate God when they are kind to others. That's what you get to do. And this kindness, while not the same as love, certainly does lead to a life-changing power, the life-changing power of God's love. So your kindness will lead people. to the love of God. I like also what Paul said in Ephesians 4 all the way into 5-1. He said, Be kind to one another. That beautiful, be kind to one another. Tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children.

Now, I've never, I've never ever thought that the shows that we're doing are random or just accidents. really do believe that, you know, after prayer and thinking about these subjects like kindness today, that you just may have an opportunity to exercise this, you know, to put it into practice. Or maybe you're in the midst of a situation right now where somebody is being really mean to you or taking advantage of you or gossiping about you or just being spiritually, you know, gnarly. And you have the opportunity to respond in kindness. Now, Paul brings out a really really important point for the disciple. He says, in Romans 2-4, he says, or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know, get this, oh, this is so good. I mean,

this is solid gold right here. Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Think about that for a moment. Anytime we're in sin or we're missing the mark this week, God wants you to get right with him. He wants you to repent. Or I love the way the catechism says it, reorient your life. You need to reorient your life if you're walking in sin. And wouldn't you know it, God's kindness towards you is actually leading you to reorient your life. So if you're, if you are experiencing this wooing by the Lord to reorient your life, to repent, know that it's its kindness that's leading you. It's not this furious God who's so upset, and he's looking for every opportunity to smack you. He's kind, and his kindness leads to

repentance. The saying is often true. Actions speak louder than words, and the kindness that we show often surprises people. And you know why it surprises people? Because they weren't expecting it. And it opened their heart to God's love. That's why. Now, the wonderful thing about kindness is that it can happen anywhere. You can demonstrate the kindness of God or receive the kindness of God anywhere, anytime, and it can be given to anyone. So kindness is without, it's without prejudice and it's freely offered. Isn't that beautiful? Kindness is without prejudice. And so before today is over, do some intentional act of kindness. not a random act of kindness, because God's kindness wasn't random, and your kindness isn't random either.

It's purposeful. It is purposeful. We're going to take a break when we come back. I want to talk about demonstrating God's kindness in some really practical ways in your life this week. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. If you're looking for a way to learn more about your Catholic faith, I invite you to check out the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. You're going to find tons of free videos featuring Catholic presenters like Matt Frad, Leadero, Jackie Bobby Angel, and Emily Wilson. Go to YouTube.com slash ascension presents. That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. And welcome back. So glad you have stuck in there. We're learning about kindness today and showing kindness to other people, being wooed to reorient our lives. By what? By God's kindness. He's wooing us. He's drawing us. He's bringing us to that place of repentance. So one of the reasons that we need to demonstrate the kindness of the Lord to people out there in public in the smallest of ways is that if we're honest about it, you know, many people feel very, very alone.

People feel desperate, not only with their health and their job, but in their marriages. their relationships with family members, they feel desperate. Oftentimes people feel very unlovy, unloving. They feel not only unloving, but they feel undesirable. Or you could say unlovely, even, or invaluable. People struggle with all these things. You know, as you walk out throughout the mall, you're literally looking at alone people, desperate people, people who think as they look in the mirror, I'm unlovely.

I'm so undesirable. I don't have any great value. But you know what? Kindness says, that's not true. That isn't true at all. You, my friend, are of infinite value. Kindness, kindness says, let me introduce you to God's love. I like what Mother Teresa said. She said, kind words can be short and easy to speak. But their echoes are truly endless. It's like that candy striper over 30 years ago in a hospital who just said some kind words to me and smiled. That comfort lingers till today. It really does.

Let's think about some areas where we could be kind in daily life. I get to travel from time to time. I go out and speak or my wife and I are on a vacation, whatever it might be. and I have found that in the area of travel, I got an awful lot of opportunities to be kind, particularly at the airport. You know, when I go to an airport and I'm traveling on the airplane, I have to exercise a whole plethora of virtues,

like patience and gentleness and so forth. But I've got to be kind to people because so many people are hurting, they're in a hurry. I need to be kind while I'm waiting on the airplane. I need to be kind while I'm sitting on the airplane. And everybody is sitting on the airplane, then suddenly, you know, you're thinking, oh, this is going to be a nice flight, I'm going to work on my computer, and then the person ahead of you drops that seat right back into your lap.

And you're thinking, what a great opportunity to exhibit the kindness of God and to not show hostility. That's a great opportunity. I find that driving in the car is an opportunity to be kind with so many people upset and so many people interpreting your driving as an attack on them. You've got an opportunity to be kind to people or let people get in front of you or making sure, you know, when you are merging with traffic in Minnesota, they call it that zipper effect. You have the traffic and then people merging from the right.

Let somebody go in front of you to make the whole traffic line go a little bit smooth, show some kindness. You say, well, that's not directly spiritual. Oh, yeah, it is. In the kingdom of God, the kingdom is like a mustard seed. It's the small things that can grow into something tremendous. So driving is really a great opportunity to demonstrate the kindness of God. How about grocery shopping? Not only at the checkout lane, but grocery shopping, you know, in being kind to other people, not getting in people's way or being pushy or with your attitude, but being kind. Or if somebody needs help in getting something, you know, at the grocery store, I get back to flying for a second. You know, one of the areas where I have to demonstrate

the kindness of God is I have to demonstrate it with those who are paid to be kind. What do I mean? It's a service industry, right? They, Delta, America, Greyhound, you name it. They pay people to be kind. And you have to ask yourself, if we didn't value kindness, there wouldn't be customer service. We pay people to be kind because we know it has an impact on others' lives. And it's a two-for-one, you know? When you're kind to somebody else, you're blessed.

When you're kind and you bless someone else, it's a two-for. And so it's a great opportunity to be the one who gives kindness and then also to receive kindness. I've oftentimes thought of kindness as putting on Christ. And I think that's exactly what Paul is saying, you know, in Colossians chapter 3 in verse 12, he says, put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion. Okay? So this is what Paul's saying. He's saying every day, put on as God's chosen ones, put on holy and beloved, put on compassion. And then he says, put on kindness, put on lowliness, meekness, and patience. So when you get up in the morning, you've got to remember to put on Christ.

And part of that, as we're talking about today, is put on kindness. So I don't feel like being kind you don't know what they did. You don't know what they emailed last week. That memo that went put kindness on. It's a virtue. You can do it. You can be kind. You can make a decision. You can make a decision to be kind on the phone. You can be, you can control anger. You can control kindness. You know, you can control anger. I've heard it so many times, you know, where a husband and a wife will get into an argument at home, and they're arguing, you know, if you would have done this, and if you would have picked us up at the grocery store, and every time I come home, and I told you, and you won't listen, you put it on Google account, and they're yelling at each other, and all of a sudden

the phone rings, and they pick up the phone, hello, Kaven's residence. Yeah, you kind of turned it around quick, didn't you? That's because you can put on gentleness and patience. You can put on kindness. That isn't to say that you are a put on, or you're just putting it on, but you can put Christ on and be kind. So how do you put on Christ? I would suggest it in the early time in the morning, in your prayer time, as a disciple, you've got to be meeting with Jesus every day. There just really isn't a whole lot to being a disciple and not meeting. A disciple meets with the master, and put him on, say, Jesus, I'm going to put on today. compassion and kindness and lowliness and meekness and patience, just like Paul said in

Colossians 3, I'm going to put that on. I'm going to put it on. You know, the kindness that we show is not dependent upon how we are treated. It really is a free gift from Christ through us, his body. And I love that. And I love what Titus said in Titus chapter 3, but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the spirit. But did you get that first part? But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us. And the beautiful thing about kindness too is this, you can even be kind. You can even be kind. Get this, you can even be kind

to an enemy. Because giving it out isn't dependent upon how you feel. feel or what you receive in return. And that's why Jesus tells us, he says, you love your enemies and do good and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high for, get this, get this, get this, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. Pause. Do you this week? Do you experience ungrateful people? Are you experiencing any ungrateful and selfish people in your life right now? Then love them. Why? Because he, the one we're imitating, is kind, even to the ungrateful. So for many, kindness coupled with love, it'll transcend theological arguments. It'll transcend debates, Greek and Hebrew, and everything else. And it will

cut to the chase, and it can touch people's hearts. And I want to end by sharing this with you. I want you to remember, and I found this in my own life, to be honest, you know, as far as being a good disciple of the Lord, is to remember to show kindness starting with your family. I have noticed that it is easier to show kindness in some ways the further you get from home. In other words, the home can be a difficult place for many to show kindness. Oftentimes, they are the recipients of really an empty tank in our life. And so when we go home is when we should be super kind to our spouse, super kind to our children. super kind to our neighbors. And oftentimes we let our guard down when we get home and we're rude

and we're not kind and we're not gentle and we're not merciful and we're not compassionate. And that's really where the battle is won in the confines of our own home. And I got to tell you, by the way, my wife, Emily, is the kindest person I know. Her kindness always draws my heart back to God. I'm a blessed guy with a very kind wife. And so I encourage you this week to walk in kindness and start with the very small things, because it's the very small things that are really the important things. And those small things that we do can make such a big difference in other people's lives. And they might not be expecting it at all. And that's the beautiful thing about this, that suddenly we can love someone with the kindness of God and they weren't expecting it

and it does something to draw their heart and restore or introduce to them not only the love of God and the faithfulness of God, in the word of God, but the kindness of God. your kindness might be the only taste or free sample of God's kindness that they're going to experience this week. Don't hold it back. Be kind. Love to hear from you, my friend, really would. If you have a story about kindness, please write me. My email is The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And again, and I'm hoping to do this with my friends, over to Sension to help to teach you how to get onto iTunes and Google Play and rank shows and leave comments. But if you know how to do that, it's very valuable, very important to these Catholic

shows, these Christian shows that we get involved and give feedback because then when other people are looking for, you know, podcasts and radio shows on kindness, this might come up pretty quick. And that's what we would like to see. Let me close in prayer for you this. week and pray that this week will be a change in your life. It'll be a kind of a turning point when it comes to responding to ungrateful people. Let's pray for that right now, shall we? In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I thank you for my friend who's listening. And I thank you, Lord, that through technology we have this relationship where we can talk, we can share our ideas with one another. And Lord, I pray that my friends will experience.

not only your kindness, your amazing kindness, but they would experience what it is like to allow your kindness to flow through them to other people. I know, Lord, that there are people who are listening, who are experiencing the wrath of ungrateful people, and life is difficult right now at work or at home, wherever it might be. Lord, help them respond with your heart, a heart of kindness, and help us, Lord, accurately be witnesses that. people can depend upon your kindness. Through us, we pray. We pray that they will experience this. And we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. God bless you, my friend. I hope you have an absolutely fantastic week.