Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12
When my mom was in hospice and nearing her last days on earth, I was touched by the genuine kindness of a nursing home caregiver. After gently lifting my frail mother from her chair and tucking her into bed, the nursing assistant caressed Mom’s head while leaning over her to say, “You are so sweet.” Then she asked how I was doing. Her kindness moved me to tears then and still does today.
Hers was a simple act of kindness, but it was just what I needed in that moment. It helped me to cope, knowing that in this woman’s eyes my mom wasn’t just a patient. She cared for and saw her as a person of great worth.
When Naomi and Ruth were bereft after the loss of their husbands, Boaz showed kindness to Ruth by allowing her to glean leftover grain behind the harvesters. He even ordered the male harvesters to leave her alone (Ruth 2:8-9). His kindness was prompted by Ruth’s care for Naomi: “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband” (v. 11). He saw her not as a foreigner or widow but as a woman in need.
God wants us to “clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12). As God helps us, our simple acts of kindness can cheer hearts, bring hope, and inspire kindness in others.
When has someone shown you a simple act of kindness? How did it inspire or encourage you?
Dear God, I want to be clothed in kindness. Please give me opportunities to show it to others.
INSIGHT
Israelite landowners were told to intentionally not harvest all the grain so that the poor could glean the leftovers (Leviticus 19:9-10; 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22). In obedience, Boaz permitted the poor to glean in his fields (Ruth 2:3). When Boaz found out that Ruth was a close relative, he invited her to get her food from his land exclusively (vv. 8-9). He protected her from harm and provided her with water and food (vv. 9, 14). He even ordered his servants to deliberately “pull out some stalks for [Ruth] from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up” (v. 16).