1
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,280
Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your

2
00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,000
Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

3
00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,400
Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

4
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,800
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken, and after a short word

5
00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,040
Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible Verse, Romans

6
00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:40,479
Speaker 1: two four. If you've ever reached a point where you

7
00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:44,800
Speaker 1: didn't expect kindness anymore, where your first instinct was suspicion

8
00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,920
Speaker 1: instead of trust, today's versus for you. I have a

9
00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,480
Speaker 1: small wedding planning company, and recently I worked a particularly

10
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,560
Speaker 1: challenging wedding. It was one of those long days that

11
00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,440
Speaker 1: stretched late into the night, emotionally intense, detail heavy, the

12
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,840
Speaker 1: kind of exhaustion that doesn't lift just because the event's over.

13
00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,200
Speaker 1: When I finally pulled into my parking lot, it was late,

14
00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 1: I noticed my new neighbor outside sweeping leaves off her porch.

15
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,040
Speaker 1: She looked up quickly, almost embarrassed. I had caught her

16
00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,560
Speaker 1: doing something strange, and she laughed and said she just

17
00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,960
Speaker 1: couldn't stand mess. Then she said, is your car off?

18
00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,360
Speaker 1: And I said, yeah, it'll turn off in a minute.

19
00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,880
Speaker 1: I went upstairs completely spent, but then that tired, uncertainty

20
00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,520
Speaker 1: crept in. Did I actually turn my car off? So

21
00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,440
Speaker 1: I went back downstairs to check, and there she was.

22
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,880
Speaker 1: She had pulled her car up behind mine. My car

23
00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:41,480
Speaker 1: door was open, and she was leaning inside, turning my

24
00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,120
Speaker 1: car off for me. For a split second, my internal

25
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,040
Speaker 1: reaction surprised me, who's invading my space? Is someone breaking

26
00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,520
Speaker 1: into my car? And then it hit me she wasn't

27
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:58,000
Speaker 1: invading anything. She was being thoughtful. Standing there, exhausted and

28
00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,800
Speaker 1: caught off guard. I realized how quickly my mind had

29
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,120
Speaker 1: gone cynical, how easily I assumed the worst, even when

30
00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,120
Speaker 1: kindness was right in front of me, And I wonder,

31
00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:14,239
Speaker 1: I gets entired that kindness felt suspicious. Today's Bible verses

32
00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 1: Romans two four, and it says, don't you see how

33
00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,560
Speaker 1: wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient with you God is? Does

34
00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,000
Speaker 1: this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that His

35
00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:30,160
Speaker 1: kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? The

36
00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,240
Speaker 1: apostle Paul writes the Book of Romans to believers living

37
00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:37,320
Speaker 1: in a morally complex, relationally tense culture, and there was

38
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:41,400
Speaker 1: a lot of judgment happening, people measuring themselves against others,

39
00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,520
Speaker 1: assuming they understood God's heart better than someone else. So

40
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,960
Speaker 1: Paul reframes the entire conversation, and at the center of

41
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,959
Speaker 1: this verse is the phrase God's kindness, and the Greek

42
00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:59,160
Speaker 1: noun that Paul uses is christas tastes. It refers to

43
00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:04,920
Speaker 1: kindness that active and useful and benevolent, not sentimental, not performative,

44
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,360
Speaker 1: but kindness that actually moves towards someone else. And Paul

45
00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,360
Speaker 1: says this kindness is meant to lead us to repentance,

46
00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:18,800
Speaker 1: and that word matters. The Greek noun matinoia means a

47
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,720
Speaker 1: change of mind or perspective. It's not about shame or

48
00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:27,880
Speaker 1: self loathing. It's about seeing differently. God's kindness doesn't crush

49
00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,520
Speaker 1: us into awareness. It gently corrects our vision, showing us

50
00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,080
Speaker 1: where our assumptions, attitudes, or reflexive reactions have quietly drifted

51
00:03:37,080 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 1: from his heart. That moment in the parking lot wasn't

52
00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 1: about boundaries or safety. It's about fatigue. Cynicism often isn't rebellion,

53
00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,080
Speaker 1: it's exhaustion. When we're born down, our ability to interpret

54
00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 1: the world generously shrinks. We can't stop expecting goodness. We

55
00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:05,800
Speaker 1: must start embracing, not for inconvenience, intrusion or disappointment, and

56
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,040
Speaker 1: if we're not careful, that position hardens into a default

57
00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,720
Speaker 1: way of seeing. My neighbor didn't make a speech, she

58
00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:16,279
Speaker 1: didn't announce her intentions. She simply noticed in need and

59
00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:22,080
Speaker 1: quietly acted. And through that small, ordinary kindness, God adjusted

60
00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:27,440
Speaker 1: my perspective, not with correction, but with grace. And that's

61
00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,400
Speaker 1: how often God works. He didn't always confront us with

62
00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,680
Speaker 1: loud conviction. Sometimes he reminds us who he is by

63
00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,920
Speaker 1: letting us encounter his kindness through someone else's simple act

64
00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,599
Speaker 1: of care. If you found yourself assuming the worst lately

65
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,880
Speaker 1: about people, motives, or even the world itself, be gentle

66
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,799
Speaker 1: with yourself. That doesn't automatically mean your faith is failing.

67
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,240
Speaker 1: It may simply mean you're tired. Scripture reminds us that

68
00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,120
Speaker 1: God's kindness isn't fragile. It doesn't disappear just because we're weary,

69
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,839
Speaker 1: and it doesn't depend on our ability to recognize it

70
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,400
Speaker 1: in the moment. Sometimes God restores our trust in him

71
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,200
Speaker 1: by surprising us with mercy when we least expect it

72
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:15,120
Speaker 1: and least deserve it. So here's your invitation today. Slow

73
00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:19,560
Speaker 1: down enough to notice kindness, don't rush past it, don't

74
00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:23,719
Speaker 1: explain it away, let it soften you again, and maybe

75
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,320
Speaker 1: at the start of your day, seek all support by

76
00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,479
Speaker 1: praying a simple prayer like, Lord, help me recognize our

77
00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:33,240
Speaker 1: kindness even when I'm too tired to expect it, because

78
00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,280
Speaker 1: God is still at work, sometimes not grand gestures, but

79
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:41,080
Speaker 1: in quiet mercies that gently remind us the world is

80
00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:43,719
Speaker 1: not as harsh as our exhaustion tells us it is.

81
00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:49,680
Speaker 1: Will you pray with me, Dear Lord in heaven, Thank you,

82
00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,200
Speaker 1: Thank you again for your gentle kindness and mercy that

83
00:05:54,400 --> 00:05:58,800
Speaker 1: is meant to turn us from our sin, to have

84
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,960
Speaker 1: us repent, but not in a harsh way. Lord, You're

85
00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,720
Speaker 1: good to us. Sometimes you are just basically putting our

86
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:08,600
Speaker 1: glasses on so that we can see a little bit

87
00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:13,160
Speaker 1: more clearly. Yes, we are in a broken world, but

88
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,839
Speaker 1: not everything's broken. The world is still full of your

89
00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,719
Speaker 1: believers looking out for each other. Lord, help us to

90
00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,760
Speaker 1: notice that. Help us not be threatened by that, Help

91
00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:27,960
Speaker 1: us not get so soured by culture that we guard

92
00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:32,040
Speaker 1: against the very kindness that's in front of us. Lord,

93
00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:35,760
Speaker 1: it can be safe because you scent it in your

94
00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 1: precious name. We pray Amen.