If God treats us with gentleness, patience, kindness, firmness, forgiveness, and love, shouldn’t we treat others that way?

This past week two acquaintances deeply impressed me with their patience and kindness.  I needed to take a snapshot of a client in their home with their new wall portrait.  But when I called to ask if I could come on a certain day, she replied that I could come, but it had to be before she took her cousin to the doctor.  I thought it was kind of her to help her cousin, but I found out that it was a lot more than just taking a cousin to the doctor.  This elderly cousin actually lived with them and was quite handicapped mentally.  She had never been capable of living on her own and had always lived with her parents until they both passed away.  In the end, my clients took over the care of their relative.  I was blown away.  This cousin had lived in a different state while they were growing up, had always been limited mentally and now was compromised physically.  Yet my clients had taken her in.  Wow!

Just a few days later I was having a conversation with an acquaintance after a Chamber of Commerce meeting.  We had found common ground in our faith and she started to share her struggles.  She had recently been told that she had to move out of their rented house.  Initially, this didn’t sound catastrophic, but then I remembered seeing her with her handicapped husband at a previous meeting.  He is in her words, ‘fragile in mind and body.’  I began to realize that a move would be a major upheaval for them.  Added to this is the fact that they live on a very limited budget.  He hasn’t been able to work for six years so she had to become the sole breadwinner.  When she was told they had to move out in a limited time frame so the owner’s son could move in, she was devastated.  With little time and little money, how would she provide a safe place for her handicapped husband?  She told me that she was crushed by the weight of this dilemma.  As she was driving the next day, suddenly a bald eagle swooped down right in front of her car and then rose to fly over the roof of her church.  The alignment of events wasn’t lost on her.  She was driving past her church at the exact second the eagle swooped down right in front of her windshield and then ascended to clear her church.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen an eagle flying low in town, especially not on a busy street.  She immediately recognized it as a sign from God to reassure her that he was going to give her strength.  The verse that jumped to her mind was Isaiah 40:31. “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”  I got teary hearing this kindness of the Lord to a hurting woman in a tight spot.  She told me how from that moment she knew the Lord would take care of her and her husband through this trial.  Later, she emailed me to tell me that someone had advocated for her and arranged for her to tour a townhouse that had become available.

My new friends are examples of serving the least of society 24/7 with kindness and patience at great cost to themselves.  I’m humbled.  Would I be willing to take in a mentally handicapped, elderly relative in poor health?  Could I patiently take care of a spouse that suddenly lost his ability to function normally mentally and physically and could no longer be my companion?  I admire them greatly.

Hopefully, we won’t be called on to make such great sacrifices for another, but could we learn something from the example of these friends of mine?  It made me think about how we should treat the people in our lives.  You know how it is when you see a glaring shortcoming in a friend?  This often happens for the first time after you’ve known them for a while.  Yikes.  What they did probably surprised you because you were hoping they were super nice and didn’t have big flaws.  But, oops, right there it was.  They’re human like the rest of us.  But this particular flaw was hard for you to deal with.  You were uncomfortable and it just seemed easier to turn and run.  Oh, not literally run, but you decided to not pursue that friendship any longer.  You wrote that person off.  I’m not saying we should never decide to walk out of a friendship.  (I’m not suggesting we enable bad behavior. If someone is hell-bent on destroying themselves and others and refuse help, we have to step back.  People in this category can’t be helped until they want help.) But isn’t it easy to just write someone off because of a fault?  What if others did that to us?  Oh, yes some of us try to hide our faults so maybe no one will find out about our shortcomings for awhile.  Yet, eventually, every one of us is seen in a weak moment.  Do we want others to give up on us?  

“We all stumble in many ways.” James 3:2

One way to give extra grace to a friend who fails is to think of what their intentions are in life.  Do they aspire to love God and others and just stumbled momentarily?  People in this situation are eager to do the right thing but had a lapse.  We can patiently come alongside and offer friendship and encouragement to get up and do the right thing.  None of us live up to our intentions and we all need grace.  

“They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”  John 8:7. Jesus to the self-righteous leaders who wanted to condemn a morally loose woman.

The Lord is so gracious to us, surely we can be gracious to others.

“He (God) put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.”  Acts 13:18

God will help us love each other and show each other patience and encouragement.

“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. . . Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.  Remember that Christ came as a servant . . . ”   Romans 15:5,7-8

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.”  Ephesians 4:2

Patience
Harmony
Acceptance
Making Allowance
Service
Humility
Gentleness