October #jammed: Free Grace.

Day 288: Blessedly cast out.

“But who will help the pitiful person who falls down alone?” Ecclesiastes 4:10 VOICE

Hands gripped tight to the steering wheel as sheets of rain stole my view of the road, I couldn’t get to the volume fast enough. It had been years since I watched The Breakfast Club, and my memory rushed to keep up with the rainy roads and running mouths on the screen.

Passionate about finding and focusing on the good that God has put in all of us, I am not a fan of the “cool kid” mantra. What makes one person cool over another? Insecurity. Every time. Muting the volume, skipping scenes and trying to drive at the same time, it was the premise of that movie I was after.

Those who toil only for themselves—for whatever reason—lead meaningless and difficult lives. NIV Study Bible Notes

Today’s verse interrupts a very famous passage about the positive impact of encouragement that one person can have on another. But in the text comes a warning to those who choose to go it alone. Not the kid who’s been bullied at school, home or both. This verse calls out the loud and the proud.

The ones who create the cliques and run the “show.” The bad influences, the pressure applicators, and the experts of guilt trips. The people who feel superior to others, and whom we all hate to admit being a little intimidated by. The ones who desire the title of “cool” and “popular,” over “kind” and “compassionate.” Sooner or later, the prideful will fall alone. It’s simply not the way God designed us to be.

Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Ecclesiastes 4:10 NIV

We are called to be an extension of love, but never a doormat. Look around and find someone to encourage. Set a pace of kindness and compassion. When we allow others the freedom of security in who they are, Christ’s love takes them from there.

Popularity is a smoke screen.  The kind and compassionate young people that walk the halls of our local high schools are not outcasts. How could they be? People flock to that kind of love. It’s inspiring to be around. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, we can focus on being kind and forget about being “cool.” We can trust Him to defend us, love us, and guide us. And when we do, we blaze the trail of Love we were placed here to pave.

Father, Praise You for kind and compassionate people after Your own heart. Thank You for the positivity they bless everyone around them with. Forgive us all for the moments we are tempted to think of ourselves as better than anyone else, and bless us with the strength and perseverance to bring up a tribe of kindness in our wake …in Your name. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Get the conversation started by commenting below, and let’s encourage one another as we face life in 2017 armed with grace! 

#greatgrace17

Happy Kind-ing,

Megs

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