Unworthy of Kindness

Thank you for joining me today as we continue with my series, Thriving in God's Garden. I would like to reflect on a passage of Scripture from Genesis 32:10. It is a prayer that was spoken by Jacob, one of ancient Israel's greatest leaders. It reads, I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two groups.

Jacob had done a lot of things in his lifetime to merit God's wrath. He tricked his own brother out of his inheritance, and he came up with a clever scheme of breeding livestock so that he became wealthier than his father-in-law, who was his business partner.

Jacob certainly didn't deserve God's kindness, but he received it anyway. He wound up with two wives and so many children that they actually made up two large groups of people.

As humans, we often consider what is fair. God, however, sometimes surprises us by blessing people who are unworthy, as Jacob was.

Is someone in your life unworthy of kindness?
As survivors of abuse, we often view our perpetrators as less worthy than anyone else of receiving kindness. We don't think God should give it to them, and we certainly aren't knocking ourselves out to express it to them.

I have been finding it extremely difficult to think of ways to express kindness to my parents right now. They are angry. For months, they have been blaming me for my father's jail sentence after he molested several children in the family. My mother is a powder keg, igniting in anger with little or no provocation toward family members who try to talk to her. I struggle with the mistaken belief that my parents are not worthy of love or kindness.

How do we express kindness to unworthy people?
It is difficult to understand why God made Jacob rich beyond his wildest dreams, considering that he was a con artist and a liar. Nevertheless, God showed him kindness. Why? Because he loved Jacob, just as he loves all of his children.

No one is worthy of God's love and kindness. I certainly am not. I may not be a con artist, a child molester, or convicted criminal, but I sure have acted in ways that have disappointed God over the years. My greatest fault has probably been an inability to forgive swiftly and completely. I'm still working on that.

But when I consider that God is kind to me, even when I don't deserve it, it makes me realize that I ought to be kind to others who don't seem worthy. My mother's brother died this week, and I finally let down my guard long enough to sign a sympathy card and mail it to her. When I considered how sad she must be, I simply couldn't withhold love any longer.

Perhaps the card will spawn more verbal abuse out of my mother. I hope not, but it was a risk I felt that I needed to take. I spend an inordinate amount of time making quilts to comfort families who have lost loved ones. I felt that sending my own mother a card was the least I could do. Perhaps this act of kindness will be received as a peace offering.

Whether we think that a person is worthy of kindness or not, God always believes that they are. He sees the orignal creation, before the world left its mark on the children he designed. Whenever possible, we must find ways to express kindness to all of God's people, because he gives it so freely to us.

Today's Challenge
Is there someone in your life who seems unworthy of kindness? If it is safe to do so, find a way to express God's love to them. Send a card, carry out a small act of service, or call them to say hello. If you're having trouble accepting the fact that they are worthy, remember that no one is worthy of God's love, but he expresses it through kindnesses anyway.