Conspiring For Kindness: Part 3 Series

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1. The Kindness Tab:

We share peace

We share hope and love

We share faith - in God and even in others

So we conspire to give away kindness purposefully, to seek for opportunities of kindness

So we conspire to be “un-satisfied” in our kindness - we are never done

So we conspire to to practice a servant life

So we conspire to live out a life of kindness

Planning for the overflow

The principles of measure

Receiving through giving

The Courage to let go (of our money)

40 Questions to Ask Yourself about finances

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2. We live kindness by not “picking” on folks

37-38 "Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment.

What is a “nit”? The egg of a louse or other parasitic insect. Louse nits can be seen on the head feathers of most martins and appear as tiny, white capsules. The lice that parasitize Purple Martins spend their entire life cycle on the birds and therefore, travel with them to Brazil and back each year, nestled among their feathers. Martins frequently engage in head scratching to relieve the irritation cause by the lice crawling there. Bird lice often concentrate on the head area of their hosts because both they and their nits are safe from visual "nit picking" there.

“Nit pickers” were people from days past whose responsibilities were to take very fine toothed combs and search strand by strand to find out where the nits were located within persons hair.

Matthew speak of the dangers of “nitpicking”

Matthew 7 1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you (C)look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4"(D)Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Of the many things Christians in our country are known for “judging” is probably best. In fact, most persons who may have never even visited a Christian church know about the “speck/log” verse. Are there times in which we have to judge - yes - but they are few in number and can only happen AFTER we’ve taken a look at SELF.

ILLUS: A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy "luxury" food items—like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp—with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who treated themselves to such non-necessities were "lazy and wasteful."

A few weeks later Lander’s column was devoted entirely to people who had responded to the grocery clerk. One woman wrote:

I didn’t buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So what? My husband had been working at a plant for fifteen years when it shut down. The shrimp casserole I made was for our wedding anniversary dinner and lasted three days. Perhaps the grocery clerk who criticized that woman would have a different view of life after walking a mile in my shoes.

Another woman wrote:

I’m the woman who bought the $17 cake and paid for it with food stamps. I thought the check-out woman in the store would burn a hole through me with her eyes. What she didn’t know is the cake was for my little girl’s birthday. It will be her last. She has bone cancer and will probably be gone within six to eight months.

1. Christians are not to pass judgement on people for their moral failures. (Luke 6:37-38, Rom. 2:1-5)

2. Christians are not to judge other Christians regarding disputable matters. (Rom. 14:1-10)

3. Christians are not to judge people’s hidden motives. (1 Cor 4:5)

1Cor. 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

4. Christians are not to judge unbelievers. (1 Cor. 5:12-13, John 3:17)

1Cor. 5:12 ¶ What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.