Proverbs 16:24 says “words are like honey, sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” You know, kindness is not something that we do to earn anything. It's something that flows from us because of what has already been earned for us…Because Jesus gives us a new life…Spiritual FRUIT as a gift. This spiritual fruit is something that's already ours and it's already within us. And if we're in Christ, it gets produced from us naturally. Spiritual fruit is not something that we present to the world, fake it til you make it style. It is produced inside of us and should come out naturally & organically. Love, joy, peace, patience, KINDNESS, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, Kindness is a virtue that we aspire to, not just something we agree on. It's not like a belief statement or a value statement where we say, “yeah, I agree to that” and then move on with our life of flipping off bad drivers and being passive aggressive at work. Kindness is Something we "become" because it's in us, it's who we are becoming. And so when this verse says “kindness is sweet to the soul and healthy for the body”, it's not just talking about your experience of kindness. Of course, when someone's kind to you, you love it. But it's a reminder that this is how you're going to be…like honey for others. This is how you make a difference in the world. It's through kindness. So, If somebody is mean to you, whether it's online or in person, be kind to them. If somebody talks junk, be kind. If you have an enemy, DO NOT kill them with kindness! That’s not how you are supposed to kill someone. Kindness can't be leveraged as a weapon. Don’t try to use kindness as a way to hurt someone, just be kind as a way to love them. Kindness is something that just genuinely comes out of us. And so I hope today that you'll look for opportunities to be kind. That you'll tap into that spirit of kindness that's inside of you and let if flow.

I'm done. I'm over it. I'm tired. I'm exhausted. I quit. I'm out of here. I'm such a failure. I'm no good. What's my purpose here, anyway? I'm tired of trying so hard. This is so pointless. I quit. This is ridiculous. Why am I trying so hard? Have you ever used any of those phrases about anything in your life? Why is it, that when things become difficult we backoff and we quit? If you've ever been a runner, when you go jogging, there's a point of exhaustion where your mind is telling you to stop...your body technically could keep going, but your mind is just done with the pain. So you'll just stop and walk. It's easier. Right? Why keep pushing, keep pressing? Paul says something different here in 1 Timothy 6:12. He says "compete well for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you are called for and made your good confession for in the presence of many witnesses." Basically, he is saying, "did you think this was going to be easy?" No, it's not going to be easy, but you've got to keep pressing forward. For two reasons. One it's your faith. Two, you made the commitment in front of peope. So hang in there. If you want to win the Olympics, you'll endure some pain in order to prepare for that Olympic competition. If you want to pass a test, you'll work hard and stay up late, preparing and studying to pass the test in the same way. Faith is about an eternal prize. So work hard for it. It's not going to be easy, but don't let any setback and push-back stop you or slow you down. Press in, hang in there.

Isaiah Chapter 25:1, "Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago." This whole section of scripture is like a foreshadowing, a prophetic picture of what's to come at the end of the world. It's all about God's judgment and what it's going to be like during that time. When you think about earthquakes and disasters and terrible things happening, you don't immediately jump to start proclaiming how extraordinary God is. I don't know about you, but for me in my own life, I could count a few times in my life where I was actually mad at God when bad stuff happened. However, I don't know that I've ever proclaimed how great God is and how He has done extraordinary things right after a hurricane dropped a tree on my house. I've been angry at God because bad things were happening, or life-stuff wasn't comfortable. How many times have you done this? You get fired from a job, so you blame God. When difficulty happens in our life, like divorce or death or loss of some sort, we get angry at God. But what if we did the opposite? What if in the middle of negative circumstances, we decided to celebrate the great things that God has done and wants to do in our life. I want to encourage you today to recognize one simple truth, that it doesn't matter how bad it is, there's always something extraordinary about God that you can celebrate. So, instead of becoming bitter and angry at God, there's a better way, a different way, a way of celebration and acknowledging how extraordinary God is... ...Even in difficult times.