Clothe Yourselves with Kindness

Colossians 3:12 "As God's chosen people, clothe yourselves with kindness"

There is an old story of an elderly man who always carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and when he would go through a door that squeaked, he would squirt a little oil on the hinges. If he encountered a gate that was hard to open, he would oil the latch. And so he went through life, lubricating all the difficult places, making it easier for all those who came after him. People called the man eccentric, strange and crazy..but he went steadily on, often refilling his can of oil when it was nearly empty...and oiling all the difficult places he found.

In this world, there are many lives that painfully creak and grate as they go about their daily lives. It often seems as if nothing goes right with them, and they need lubricating with the "oil of joy"..gentleness, or thoughtfulness.

Do you carry your own can of oil with you? Are you ready with your oil of helpfulness each day? If you offer your oil to the person nearest you, it just may lubricate the entire day for him. Your oil of cheerfulness will mean more than you know to someone who is downhearted. Or the oil may be a word of encouragement to a person who is full of despair. Never fail to speak it, for our lives may touch others only once on the road of life, and then our paths may diverge, never to meet again.

The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a difficult or hardened life, and left it soft and pliable, ready to receive the redeeming grace of the Savior. A pleasant word is a bright ray of sunhine on a saddened heart. Therefore give others the sunshine and tell Jesus the rest. Be devoted, one to another, in brotherly love.

From Streams in the Desert