00:00You know who's going through a lot right now?
00:04Everyone.
00:06Maybe not in the same way.
00:08Maybe not to the same degree.
00:11And maybe you cannot see it.
00:14But almost everyone you meet is carrying something.
00:18Somebody is worried about money.
00:21Somebody is watching a marriage fall apart.
00:25Somebody is grieving a person they would give anything.
00:30To speak to one more time.
00:33Somebody is waiting for test results.
00:37Somebody is trying to hold their family together.
00:41Somebody is exhausted from taking care of everyone else.
00:46Somebody is fighting loneliness in a room full of people.
00:51Somebody went to work this morning after crying in the car.
00:56Somebody smiled at you today.
00:59While wondering how much longer they can keep going.
01:04And that's why kindness matters more than we sometimes realize.
01:10You know what?
01:11Jesus understood this.
01:13When you read the Gospels,
01:15I want you to notice how often Jesus looked beyond what everyone else could see.
01:21Other people saw a blind man.
01:25Jesus saw a person.
01:29Other people saw a tax collector.
01:33Jesus saw a person.
01:36Other people saw a woman with a reputation.
01:51You know, other people saw somebody possessed, rejected, ashamed, poor, sick, sinful, frightened, or forgotten.
02:00But Jesus kept seeing the human being underneath the condition.
02:06That is one of the greatest lessons that Christ teaches us.
02:11Do not reduce people to what you can see.
02:16You have no idea what somebody else may be carrying.
02:20Think about the woman in Mark 5, who had been bleeding for 12 years.
02:30She had suffered under doctors, spent what she had, and instead of getting better, she had gotten worse.
02:41Then, she heard about Jesus.
02:44She worked her way through the crowd, believing that if she could simply touch his clothes, she might be healed.
02:52She touched him, and Jesus stopped.
02:56Now, that part matters.
02:58Just stick with me here.
02:59Jesus was surrounded by people.
03:02He had somewhere else to go.
03:05Jairus had already asked him to come help with his dying daughter.
03:09There was urgency all around him.
03:13Yet, Jesus stopped for one hurting person.
03:18The disciples could not understand why.
03:21There were people everywhere.
03:24Everybody was touching him.
03:26But Jesus knew this touch was different.
03:30Someone in that crowd was hurting.
03:33Someone needed him.
03:35And Jesus refused to treat her like an interruption.
03:40Imagine how different your day would become if you started looking at people that way.
03:48The cashier who seems irritated.
03:51The co-worker who answered you sharply.
03:55The person driving too slow in front of you.
03:58The family member who has become unusually quiet.
04:03The friend who has not called.
04:06The person who made a mistake.
04:09Your first reaction may be frustration.
04:13But perhaps the better question is,
04:18I wonder what they are carrying.
04:20Now, that does not mean accepting abusive behavior.
04:25And that is not what I am saying.
04:28It does not mean having no boundaries.
04:31Or pretending that wrong is right.
04:35You see, Jesus was extraordinarily compassionate.
04:39But he was never weak.
04:42He confronted hypocrisy.
04:44He spoke truth.
04:46He established boundaries.
04:49And sometimes, Jesus walked away.
04:53You see, kindness does not require surrendering wisdom.
04:58It means refusing to become cruel simply because somebody else is struggling.
05:04Now, there is already enough cruelty in this world, wouldn't you agree?
05:09You don't need to add to it.
05:11And sometimes, the most Christ-like thing you can do is give somebody a little more patience than they appear
05:19to deserve.
05:22Speak a little softer.
05:24Listen a little longer.
05:27Forgive a little quicker.
05:29And assume a little less.
05:33Encourage instead of criticize.
05:37And before you respond in anger,
05:39I want you to remember that you may be speaking to somebody during one of the hardest seasons of their
05:47life.
05:48They may never tell you.
05:50And that's the strange thing about suffering.
05:54It's often invisible.
05:57People become very good at saying,
05:59I'm fine.
06:00They go to work.
06:02They take care of their children.
06:04They answer emails, post pictures, laugh at jokes, shake hands, and even go to church.
06:13And inside, they may be barely holding themselves together.
06:18Keep that in mind.
06:21Barely holding themselves together.
06:26You know, Jesus never needed people to prove they were hurting before he showed compassion.
06:32Neither should you.
06:34One of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus appears in Matthew 9, verse 36.
06:43When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
06:52shepherd.
06:54Now, notice what Jesus did not do.
06:57He did not look at the crowd and say,
07:00These people need to get their lives together.
07:02He did not say,
07:05Why can't these people handle their problems?
07:08He saw their condition and responded with compassion.
07:14That's the heart worth asking God to build within you.
07:18A heart that notices.
07:21A heart that listens.
07:23A heart that does not immediately judge.
07:27A heart that remembers everybody has a story you probably do not completely understand.
07:33Because someday, you will be the person going through something nobody else can see.
07:41Maybe that day is today.
07:44And when you're struggling, you will understand just how powerful a little kindness can be.
07:51A phone call.
07:53A text.
07:55A sincere question.
07:57A person who listens without trying to fix everything.
08:01A person who listens without trying to fix everything.
08:02Someone saying,
08:04I'm here.
08:06Someone giving you grace on a day when you are not at your best.
08:11Those things may seem small.
08:13But they are not small to the person who needs them.
08:18You may never know what your kindness prevented.
08:22You may never know what your encouragement restored.
08:26You may never know what that conversation meant.
08:30You may never know that somebody went home thinking,
08:35Maybe I can keep going.
08:37And Jesus taught that loving people is not theoretical.
08:42It happens in ordinary moments.
08:45It happens in how you speak.
08:48How you respond.
08:50How you forgive.
08:52How you treat the person everybody else ignores.
08:57How you behave when there is absolutely nothing in it for you.
09:03So today,
09:05When somebody frustrates you,
09:08I'm going to ask you to remember,
09:10They may be going through something.
09:13When somebody seems distant,
09:16I want you to remember,
09:18They may be going through something.
09:21When somebody makes a mistake,
09:25It's time to remember that
09:28They may be going through something.
09:33And when you are tempted to believe that you are the only person struggling,
09:37Remember something else.
09:40You are not alone, either.
09:43Jesus sees what other people cannot see.
09:47He knows the burden you have not explained.
09:50He knows the prayer you have prayed a hundred times.
09:54He knows what keeps you awake at night.
09:57He knows why you are tired.
10:01He knows what hurts.
10:03And the same Jesus who stopped in a crowd for one suffering woman
10:08Has not become indifferent to you.
10:12So, carry this lesson with you.
10:15You want to know who's going through a lot right now?
10:20Everyone.
10:22Including the person standing in front of you.
10:24Including the person who irritated you.
10:28Including the person who seems to have everything together.
10:32Maybe even you.
10:35So, be kind.
10:37Be patient.
10:39Give grace.
10:41And speak life.
10:43And when you have the opportunity to make someone's day heavier or lighter,
10:48Choose lighter.
10:50Because you never know what someone is carrying.
10:54But Jesus does.
10:57And when you treat people with compassion, patience, dignity, and love,
11:02You are showing them a little bit of what Jesus is like.
11:10My name is Douglas Vandergraaf, and I believe in Jesus Christ.
11:15God bless every single one of you.
11:19Every single one.
11:22And everyone you love.
11:25Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:28Bye-bye.
11:29Bye-bye.
11:29Bye-bye.
11:30Bye-bye.
11:30Bye-bye.
11:30Bye-bye.
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