Gimme Sum

As a kid, I remember hearing this phrase plenty of times on the block, at the park, or on the school bus. If someone had some Now & Laters, Hot Cheetos, a liquor store hot pickle, or a sandwich bag filled with sugar and Koolaid (what you know about that?), there was soon a swarm of other kids saying, "Gimme sum!" 

Top 3 Responses to "Gimme Sum"
"Here."
"No 'cause you didn't give me none."
"Gimme got shot..." 

Now, we all know this is never going to make Family Feud, but anytime I got response 2 or 3, I'd typically say: "I'ma remember that!" LOL! Oh to be a kid again...but truthfully I always remembered who hooked me up and who left me hanging. It's human nature to remember who had your back and who did you scandalous...

Kindness is a memorable trait. It is selfless and considerate of others, so people are not very likely to forget it. To be kind is to cast our personal agendas to the side to help our fellow man. Many of us are taken aback when someone shows us kindness because we live in such a spiteful society. When someone goes out of their way to do something for us it makes us feel special.

This seems easy. Most of us do at least one kind act a day. But the challenge comes in whether or not someone else would characterize us as "kind" people. Galatians doesn't say, "Be Kind." Why? Because that's optional. For the most part, to phrase it like that would mean we could be kind when we felt like it, which is what most of us do. When it's on our hearts or when we have time, we do something awesome for someone else. They are surprised or grateful, and we stick our chests out like we really did something.

But the fruit of the Spirit is kindness. Let the English teacher break it down. The suffix -ness means that this adjective has now become a noun which means it IS not it is LIKE. I am a human, a noun. It's who I am. Is kindness who we are? Galatians is asking us to be consistently kind. Philippians 2:4 says, "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." This is deep. There are times that someone close to me is going through something or could use a hand, but I just "don't have time" or "wish I would have known sooner." There are times that I put my own interests of dinner time, bath times, and straight up sleepy time get in the way of helping my fellow man. Why? Because I choose to be kind instead of cloaked with kindness. My kindness can often be contingent upon convenience; if I have time to be kind, you got it. If not, you gotta wait bruh. 

1 Timothy 5:10 challenges us to have "a reputation for good works". This means that being kind should be common for us. When people see us doing something nice or seemingly out of the ordinary they should be like, "Aw that guy? He does stuff like that all the time." Ephesians 4:32 tells us specifically how to interact with one another. It says, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." That said, we are to do this daily. It isn't something we pick and choose. Sometimes kindness will be uncomfortable. Sometime it will be inconvenient. And honestly, there will be times we just don't feel like being kind. But just know that people will remember that. Of course they will remember when you took the time out to help them; but they will also remember when you left them hanging. And so will your Father. Be Blessed. XOXO