On a recent visit to the Cracker Barrel, I noticed one of their decorations had these words “Kind words are like Honey sweet to the soul.” Just reading this put a smile on my face. I believe this is taken from Proverbs 16:24. The New King James Version reads this way, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” There are many scriptures that teach us to be kind or to use kind words. It is always encouraging when someone says something kind to us. It brightens our day, puts a smile on our faces and encourages us to be more kind to others. I appreciate people who seem to always be looking for opportunities to say something or to be kind to others.
Why do we not speak kind words to others more often? I would guess it is because we get too caught up in our busy day to day activities to slow down and offer words of kindness to others. Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances where it is difficult to say kind words. In these situations, we would do well to remember the famous line from the movie Bambi where Thumper says, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” We can also find ourselves in situations, where we can change a conversation that may be negative towards another person by finding kind words to say about them. It has been said that kindness has a ripple effect. If we are kind to others, it encourages them to pass on the kindness. A few years ago, some people started paying for the food the person behind them had ordered in the drive through line at fast-food restaurants. The sentiment was to keep this random act of kindness going, encouraging that person to do the same for the next in line.
Matthew 7:12 often referred to as the “Golden Rule” says “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” We take this to mean that if we want others to treat us with kindness, we should be kind to them whether in words or actions. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians tells us of the greatest kindness ever shown to mankind. Ephesians 2:4-7 says “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Let us all be kind to others this week.