Kindness

When a pastor was leaving the house in the morning, his wife said to him, “Let’s change it around today. How about being grumpy at church and kind at home.”

Being kind at home is not always easy.

What might you do or stop doing to raise your Kindness Quotient at home? If you are brave enough, get feedback.

Since Libby is a naturally kind person, I figured that this conversation might be one-sided. I wasn’t wrong.
Because kindness is always included in any list of spiritual virtues in the Bible, I have tried to be more intentional about its practice.

Colossians 3:12 encourages us to clothe ourselves with kindness, like it’s a choice. So, doing little things around the house for Libby is an easy way to be kind, like pulling her car into the garage on cold nights, cleaning up breakfast dishes, running the dishwasher, etc.

“But it would be good to be mindful of your tone of voice sometimes,” Libby kindly suggests. “What you’re saying may be true, but your tone may have irritation.” (That is easily true anytime I ask her where something is in the refrigerator. Did you know that there can also be a tone in the amount of noise you make moving around stuff,) I realize that my excuse that she is just too sensitive doesn’t work.

We both realize that casual, affectionate touch makes us kinder as well.

The true test is when one of us will notice the kindness and say, “Thank you.” Those are probably two of the best words a husband can ever hear.

What will raise your Kindness Quotient?