I’ve always appreciated the authenticity of Anne Graham Lotz and Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright, whether they are writing about their family, their spiritual lives, or their own struggles. Today this mother-daughter pair urge us toward kindness—kindness beyond fear or anger or hurt. Most of all, kindness in each other’s weaknesses, kindness in a messy, muddled world. It’s a grace to welcome Anne and Rachel-Ruth back to the farm’s table today…

Guest Post by Anne Graham Lotz and Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright

You may have heard of Corrie ten Boom, who, along with her sister, Betsie, was arrested for hiding Jews during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

When the sisters were taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, Corrie was able to smuggle in a small bottle of vitamin drops. Knowing that they would be malnourished from the small “meals” the guards gave them, Corrie and Betsie put a drop of vitamins on their piece of bread each day. The other women around them were growing weak, so out of kindness the sisters began to share their drops with others, even though they knew that their small bottle would not last long.

More and more women came for drops, and yet the bottle never ran out!

God supernaturally supplied them with vitamin drops for everyone as long as needed.

What do we learn from that story?

We should never withhold kindness from others, even if it looks like we will lose out. 

We should never withhold kindness from others, even if it looks like we will lose out. 

Consider what Jesus told His disciples: “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35). I don’t know about you, but I struggle to live this out consistently. I strive but fall short so many times.

I’ve often come to the end of the day and realize there were many moments when I could have served someone with kindness even in the simplest ways and yet I didn’t. 

My brother Jonathan has been a great example to me.

In the months after I had two heart attacks, he came to my house on multiple occasions to sit with me so that I would not be alone. Sometimes he’d show up with lunch or a chai latte without me even asking for it. 

I remember one day, I just couldn’t seem to get warm. I got up to get something and when I came back, Jonathan was standing in front of the fireplace holding my blanket up so that the fire would warm it! When I sat down, he brought it over to me and laid it on my lap! I was in tears at his kindness. 

Jesus is higher than any ruler or principality. And yet this divine, all-powerful King got on His knees and washed His disciples’ dirty, grimy, stinky feet!

Jonathan has plunged my toilets, scrubbed my floors, changed my light bulbs, and even brought a weather strip for my drafty front door and applied it without being asked. I’ve never met anyone who enjoys serving more than Jonathan, and who does it with such humility. There is never a job too big or too menial for him. He continually anticipates how he can be kind to others, including strangers. 

As we were growing up, my dad repeatedly emphasized that our lives are never about “us.” We need to be others-focused. He frequently quoted Matthew 20:28 to us: “Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.”

Jesus…who created the universe, put the planets in place, knows all the stars by name, created every cell in our complex bodies, knows our every thought before we think it, determines the times and the seasons…Jesus is higher than any ruler or principality. And yet this divine, all-powerful King got on His knees and washed His disciples’ dirty, grimy, stinky feet!

Jesus told His disciples, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (John 13:15).

How can any of us think we are too educated, too important, too clean, too “above” serving, if that’s what Jesus did?

We are to value others above ourselves, having “the same mindset as Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

When Jesus returns, will He find you doing whatever needs to be done, regardless of your position or what the task is? 

In these last days, the enemy is on a mission to discourage and defeat us as never before. He can do it in subtle ways, causing little irritations that wear us down until we are short-tempered, impatient, and unkind.

While writing this I feel the Holy Spirit convicting me of a pattern of unkindness with someone who has hurt me deeply in the past.

Somehow in my mind, I’ve justified my lack of warmth because of the deep wounds I’ve suffered. I’ve told the Lord multiple times, “She doesn’t deserve it.” But I also have told Him I am sorry and I’ve asked Him to please help me be kind to those whom I sometimes feel deserve a good smack!

I am convicted about my less-than-kind perspective as I consider how, in His kindness, Jesus has saved me by His grace, redeemed me by His own blood, and will one day return to take me to His heavenly home! 

As things deteriorate around the world economically and in other ways, we will have more and more opportunities to share God’s kindness with those around us.

Has God blessed you with finances? Give!

Do you know someone who is sick? Make a meal for them.

Is someone you know in tough circumstances? Send them an encouraging text or offer the gift of your time. Have a boss or coworker or family member yelled at you? Respond with patience and look for a way you can bless them. 

Carefully consider your interactions each day, with your family and friends, with your coworkers, with your neighbors, with the checkout cashier and your fellow drivers. How can you interact with kindness to each one?

When Jesus returns, will He find you doing whatever needs to be done, regardless of your position or what the task is? 

 On this day, identify a specific situation in which you can serve someone else with kindness, especially someone who has not shown kindness or a servant’s heart toward you. Then do it!

[ Our humble thanks to Multnomah for their partnership in today’s devotional. ]