Examen & The Ministry of Kindness
This practice was offered as a companion to July 12th’s sermon “The Ministry of Kindness”.
In 1 Peter 4:7-11 we see how the comfort of God’s kindness invites us to be uniquely kind to ourselves and to those in the spheres of influence we have been entrusted with. In order to press in and reflect on how this applies in our lives, we are going to walk through the practice of examen.
Examen allows us to identify where the voice and activity of God shows up throughout our day and attends to where we might have missed his presence and reflecting his image in the busyness. During the practice we pay attention to things such as our mental and emotional state, individual interactions with others, physical body aches as well as times of joy, praise and gratitude over the course of the day and allow this examination to push us to seek God for ways we can manifest His kindness to ourselves and others in our daily lives.
Replay: What happened today?
To start replay the day in your mind. Take a few minutes to notice where in the past 24 hours you may not have been kind to yourself or those around you, whether it be negative self talk, putting someone down, being flaky with commitments, or replying with sarcasm.
Reflect: When was a time today that I was not kind to myself? When was I unkind to someone around me?
Focus on one particular situation in the past day where you were unkind and identify the strongest feeling you had during that situation. Were your actions brought on by anger, hurt, guilt, shame, bitterness, or doubt? The purpose here is to identify the strong feeling you felt to press into why you reacted the way you did. Remember it is God’s kindness to us that gives us the ability to truly understand what it means to be kind to ourselves and those around us.
Repent: Pray and ask God to change my heart and actions to be more reflective of the kindness he has lovingly shown me.
Share that situation and the feelings you had with Jesus. Be honest with him about what caused the feeling and ask him to work to change your heart and actions to be more reflective of the kindness he has shown you. Be patient with yourself as it might take time to understand the cause of your feelings but keep pressing in and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal this to you.
Resolve: Commit to living differently tomorrow and allowing the comfort of God’s kindness to change my heart toward myself and others.
Thank God for being present with you and for helping you grow to live differently in the way you are kind to yourself and manifest the ministry of kindness to others.
