Be Nice!!

Have you ever been around mean people? There are just some people in this world who refuse to be nice. In our house we call it being ugly and our kids know exactly what we mean when we tell them to stop being so ugly! And to be honest, there have been many times that I have wanted to go up to someone and tell them to stop being so ugly and just be nice.

But what's really bad is when you catch yourself being that ugly person! We can have our order wrong at a restaurant or a bad day at work and suddenly the ugliness is unleashed. But I think the worst part about it is that most of the time we are nicer to the people we work with or see at the store, but then we come home and all that ugliness just comes spewing out all over our spouse and kids. They've done nothing to deserve it but the first chance we get, we lash out. I for one am very guilty of that in my own home. My husband always teases me that i'm the nicest person in the world, and I do try to be as nice as possible to everyone I come in contact with. However, it is so easy to forget to show that same kindness to my own husband and children.

1 Corinthians 13:4 says that love is kind, Ephesians 4:32 says to be kind and tenderhearted with each other and Galatians 5:22 says that one of the fruit of the Spirit is kindness. You see, kindness is supposed to seep out of us at all times as Christians with everyone we come in contact with but I believe even more so with those we live with. It is so easy to let yourself go and not watch what you say as much with people you're around all the time but I believe it's even more important to be kind to your family than anyone else.

I see so many couples that are just ugly to each other all the time. They make jokes at each others expense or insult them without even thinking and are often just plain cruel to each other. This should not be happening! Let me tell you for sure that there is no one in this world you should be nicer to that your spouse and children. Your spouse looks to your for support and your children look to you for every kind of encouragement and when you snap back at them with ugly words and actions you can very quickly crush them.

So today, start to work on walking out kindness towards your spouse and kids. My kids school motto is "Be kind with your ears. Be kind with your eyes. Be kind with your mouth. Be kind with your body". It sounds so basic and childish but look at how you treat your family. Are you kind with everything you do and say?