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The Bible says that each person is given something to do that shows who God is! (1 Corinthians 12:7). When God gives an assignment, he also gives the skill. Look at your life. What do you consistently do well? What do you love to do? And what do others love for you to do?

So much for the excuse, I don’t have anything to offer. Enough of the self-deprecating, I can’t do anything. And enough of its arrogant opposite, “I have to do everything.” Imitate the Apostle Paul who said, “Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us” (2 Corinthians 10:13). Extract your uniqueness. “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you!” (2 Timothy 1:6). And do so to make a big deal out of God!

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Da Vinci painted one Mona Lisa. Beethoven composed one Fifth Symphony. And God made one version of you! God custom-designed you for a one-of-a-kind assignment—“to each according to each one’s unique ability” (Matthew 25:15).

“The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Did the apostle Paul say, The Spirit has given some of us?…or a few of us?  No! “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

You don’t have to do everything! You are not God’s solution to society, but you are a solution in society. Don’t worry about the skills you don’t have. Don’t covet the strengths others do have. Just extract your uniqueness—to God’s glory!

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God has clothed us. He protects us with a cloak of love. Wouldn’t you love to do the same for him? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me” (Matthew 25:36-40).

Have you ever heard anyone gossip about someone you know?  Well, I heard that she. . .  Oh, but didn’t you know that she. . . or Let me tell you what a friend told me about him. . .”  Then all of a sudden it’s your turn. Everybody is picking your friend apart. What have you to say? Here is what loves says: Love says nothing. Love stays silent. “Love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8).  If love says anything, love speaks words of defense; words of kindness; and words of protection. Do you know anyone who could use some protection? Of course you do.

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Love always protects! (1 Corinthians 13:6-7). We hide; God seeks. We bring sin; He brings a sacrifice. We try figs; He brings the robe of righteousness. And we are left to sing the song of the prophet, “He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness, like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding, like a bride dressed in jewels” (Isaiah 61:10).

Do you own a cloak of love? Do you know anyone who needs one? When you cover someone with concern, you are fulfilling what Paul had in mind when he wrote the phrase, “love—always protects.” A root meaning of the word is “to cover or conceal.” Protect conveys the ideas of covering with a cloak of love; covered with encouragement; covered with tenderhearted care. Ever thought of your Creator as a clothier? He has given you your finest cloak of love!

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Wouldn’t it be great if love were like a cafeteria line? Endless options to pick and choose what we want. But it wouldn’t be love! Scripture says, “Love. . .bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

But how can we love those we find difficult to love? Such love isn’t easy. Not even for Jesus.  “You people have no faith. How long must I put up with you?” (Mark 9:19). To know Jesus asked such a question reassures us. But to hear how he answered it will change us.  How long?  Long enough for every sin to soak in my sinless soul so that heaven will turn in horror until my swollen lips pronounce the final transaction– “It is finished.” How long? Until it kills me.

Jesus bore all things, believed all things, hoped all things, and endured all things. Every single one.

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“This is what real love is: it is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10).

When it comes to love, be careful. Take a good look around. Don’t force what is wrong to be right. Be prayerful. Love is a fruit of the Spirit. Ask God to help you love as he loves. “God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5).

Be grateful for those who’ve encouraged you to do what is right and applauded when you did. And isn’t it good to know that even when we don’t love with a perfect love, he does? God always nourishes what is right. He has never done wrong, led one person to do wrong, or rejoiced when anyone did wrong. For he IS love!

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Have you ever made decisions about your relationships based on your feelings instead of the facts? When it comes to love, feelings rule the day. Emotions guide the ship.

Ever wish you had a DNA test for love?  Paul offers us one, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). In this verse lies a test for love.  Love doesn’t ask someone to do what is wrong. If you find yourself prompting evil in others, heed the alarm.  And if others prompt evil in you, be alert. That siren you hear?  It’s the phony-love detector.

Love doesn’t tear down the convictions of others. Quite the contrary. “Love builds up!” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Ask yourself this: Do I encourage this person to do what is right?  For true love “takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth.”

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What happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love? Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others?

It’s not enough to keep the bad stuff out. We’ve got to let the good stuff in. It’s not enough to keep no list of wrongs. We need to cultivate a list of blessings. Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Thinking conveys the idea of pondering, studying, and focusing…allowing what is viewed to have an impact on us. You want to make a list? Then list his mercies. List the times God has forgiven you. Rather than store up the sour, store up the sweet!

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Life has a way of unloading her rubbish on our doorstep! Your husband works too much. Your wife gripes too much. Your boss expects too much. Your kids whine too much. The result? Trash. Loads of pessimism, guilt, anxiety—it all piles up. And what about the Pharisees? They killed Christ in their hearts before they killed him on the cross.

Today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions. Could that be why Paul writes, “Love…keeps no record of wrongs?” (1 Corinthians 13:5). We do have a choice. Paul says we do when he writes, “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Selfishness, step back!  Envy…get lost! You are not a victim of your thoughts. If today’s thoughts are tomorrow’s actions, what happens when we fill our minds with thoughts of God’s love? Will standing beneath the downpour of his grace change the way we feel about others? Absolutely!

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Do you think God could heal your angry heart? He asks the same question of you that he asked of the invalid in John 5:6,  “Do you want to be healed?” Not everyone does. Anger may be part of your identity.

T.D. Terry’s stressful job stirred in him daily bouts of anger. A tree near his driveway had been tall. Then lost a few limbs. After some time it was nothing more than a stump. T.D. explained, “I took my anger out on the tree. I took an ax to it. I tore the limbs. I didn’t want to come home mad, so I left my anger at the tree.”

Let’s do the same. In fact, let’s take our anger to the tree on the hill. Leave it at the tree of Calvary. Let God accept you. Take a long drink from his limitless love, and cool down!

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The self-centered see everything through self. Their motto?  “It’s all about me!” To the self-centered– the flight schedule, the traffic, the worship styles—everything is filtered through the mini-me in the eye.

Philippians 2:3-4 says, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.”  Looking after your personal interests is proper life management. Doing so to the exclusion of the rest of the world is selfishness. Desire success? Fine. Just don’t hurt others in achieving it. Love isn’t selfish! Love builds up relationships but selfishness corrodes relationships.

What’s the cure for selfishness? A smaller “I” and a greater Christ! Don’t focus on yourself; focus on all that you have in Christ—the encouragement in Christ, the fellowship of the Spirit, the affection and compassion of heaven!

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Paul says in Colossians 4:5-6, “Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity. When you talk, you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.” Courteous conduct honors Christ. Those who don’t believe in Jesus note what we do. They make decisions about Christ by watching us. When we are kind, they assume Christ is kind.

Courteous conduct also honors God’s child. When you surrender a parking place to someone, you honor them. When you make an effort to greet everyone in the room, especially the ones others may have overlooked, you honor God’s children. Romans 12:18 says, “Do your best to live in peace with everyone!” You can’t control their attitude, but you can manage yours!

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When Paul defined what love is not, he put rudeness on the list. Love is “not rude” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Some years ago an example of rudeness was taken before the courts in Minnesota. A man fell out of his canoe and lost his temper. Though the river was lined with vacationing families, he polluted the air with obscenities. Some of those families sued him. He said, “I have my rights!”

God calls us to a higher, more noble concern. Not, “What are my rights?” but “What is loving?” Do you have the right to pretend you don’t hear your wife speaking? Perhaps so, but is it loving?

Jesus always knocks before entering. He doesn’t have to. If anyone has the right to barge in, Christ does. But he doesn’t. That gentle tap you hear? It’s Christ…“Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Revelation 3:20). And when you answer, he awaits your invitation to cross the threshold!

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The humble heart honors others! Jesus is our example. Content to be known as a carpenter and happy to be mistaken for the gardener. He served his followers by washing their feet.

He serves us by doing the same. Each morning he gifts us with beauty. Each moment he dwells in our hearts. And does he not speak of the day when, according to Luke 12:37, “the master will dress himself to serve and tell the servants to sit at the table, and he will serve them?”

If Jesus is so willing to honor us, can we not do the same for others? Make people a priority. Accept your part in his plan. Be quick to share the applause. And, most of all, regard others as more important than yourself. Love does! For love “does not boast; it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV).

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True humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but thinking accurately of yourself! When Paul writes “consider others better than yourselves” he uses a verb that means to calculate or to reckon (Philippians 2:3 NIV). It implies a conscious judgment resting on carefully weighed facts. To consider others better than yourself then is, not to say you have no place, but it is to say that you know your place. Scripture says, “Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you” (Romans 12:3 Phillips).

And be quick to applaud the success of others. Give each other more honor that you want for yourselves. The humble person does not say, “I can’t do anything.” But rather, “I can’t do everything; but I know my part and am happy to do it!”

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Love does not boast, it is not proud (1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV). Jesus has no room for pecking orders. His solution to man-made caste systems? A change of direction. In a world of upward mobility, choose downward servility. “Regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 NASB). Jesus flip-flopped the pecking order.

Would you do what Jesus did? He swapped a spotless castle for a grimy stable. He exchanged the worship of angels for the company of killers. If you knew that only a few could care that you came, would you still come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still care? The palm that held the universe took the nail of a soldier. Why? Because that’s what love does! He loves you that much! Drink deeply of God’s love for you—and ask him to fill your heart with a love worth giving!

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What are the consequences of envy? Loneliness tops the list. Solomon says, “Anger is cruel and destroys like a flood, but no one can put up with jealousy!” (Proverbs 27:4) Who wants to hang out with a jealous fool?  In a cemetery in England stands a grave marker with the inscription, “She died for want of things.” Alongside that one is another, “He died trying to give them to her!”

Jews used one word for jealousy, qua-nah. It meant “to be intensely red.” Have you seen red-faced jealousy? God withholds what we desire in order to give us what we need. Would you exchange the lesser gifts for the higher gift of knowing God? If you would, then your envy will pass. Jealousy has no fire when true love is received!

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Kindness at home. Kindness in public. Kindness in church and kindness with our enemies. Pretty well covers the gamut, don’t you think? Almost. Someone else needs your kindness. Who could that be? Well, it’s YOU! Since God is so kind to us, can’t we be a little kinder to ourselves?

Oh, but you don’t know me, Max. You don’t know my faults and my thoughts. You don’t know the gripes I grumble and the complaints I mumble. No, I don’t, but he does. He knows everything about you, yet he doesn’t hold back his kindness toward you. Has he, knowing all your secrets, retracted one promise or reclaimed one gift? He forgives your faults, calls you his ambassador, his follower, even his child. In God’s book you are a good thing. Be kind to yourself. God thinks you’re worth his kindness. And he’s a good judge of character.

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I’ve attended my share of seminars on strategizing and team building. But I can’t say I’ve ever attended or even heard of one lecture on kindness. Jesus, however, would take issue with our priorities. “Go and learn what this means,” he commands. “I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices” (Matthew 9:13).

How kind are you? Which person is the most overlooked or avoided? A shy student? A grumpy employee? And here’s a challenge—what about your enemies? How kind are you to those who want what you want or take what you have? How about the boss who fired you or the wife who left you. Mercy is the deepest gesture of kindness. The Apostle Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you!” (Ephesians 4:32).

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We are quick to think of Jesus’ power, his passion, and his devotion. But those near him knew and know God comes cloaked in kindness. “Love is kind” writes Paul. David agrees, “Your lovingkindness is better than life” (Psalm 63:3). But Jesus’ invitation offers the sweetest proof of the kindness of heaven: “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

I wonder, how many burdens is Jesus carrying for us that we know nothing about? He carries our sin. He carries our shame. But how often do we thank him for his kindness? Hasn’t he helped you out of a few jams? And has there ever been a time when he was too busy to listen to your story? And since God has been so kind to you, can’t you be kind to others?

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