Kindness Returned (Luke 6:38)
“ ‘Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you’ ” (Luke 6:38, NKJV). What is Jesus saying here? What principle of life is He talking about?
So often, how we treat others comes back on ourselves. That is, when we are kind, it’s so much likelier that others will be kind to us. It works the other way, too: be mean to others, and others will be mean to you, as well.
Of course, it doesn’t always happen that way. (Look at Jesus and how He was treated!) But whether it does or doesn’t, in one sense it doesn’t really matter. As Christians, we always should be kind, even if that kindness is not given back to us. In fact, as we have read, being kind to those who are unkind to us is a hallmark of being a true follower of Jesus. In general, however, how we treat others will impact how we ourselves are treated. “‘Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets’” (Matt. 7:12, NKJV).
Read Luke 6:35. How does this fit in with what we’ve been talking about all week?
It’s always easy to be kind to someone who could be of benefit to you down the road. Anyone will do that. What’s harder, however, is to be kind, especially when it costs you something, to those who can never do anything for you in return. That’s the real test.
Examine yourself. Is your kindness motivated by selfless and self-sacrificial love, or is it motivated even slightly by a desire to look out for number one? If it’s the latter, how can you change?
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