SABBATH AFTERNOON Read for This Week's Study:
2 Sam. 9:1-13; Prov. 15:1-5; 25:11-15; Matt. 5:43-48; Luke 6:35, 38; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-14.
Memory Text:
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering" (Colossians 3:12, NKJV).
When Paul illustrated how love behaves, patience came into his mind first: "Love suffers long" (1 Cor. 13:4, NKJV). Immediately after patience, he wrote that love "is kind," showing that love and kindness so belong together that without kindness no act is truly done in love!Patience, we saw, is love forbearing. Kindness, on the other hand, implies a more active expression of love. Often patience might be manifested by doing nothing; kindness, in contrast, is manifested by what we say and do and, more important, by how we say it and do it and, even more important, why we say and do it.
Kindness is not beyond the reach of any, although it may take the sacrifice of time and energy. Kindness is a verb that reveals itself in numerous ways. And like its close cousin "love," kindness contains incredible power; it is a witness in and of itself of what our God is like.
*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 6.
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