2 Chronicles 10

2 Chronicles 10:7 states, “If you are kind to these people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.” Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) just took over as king because Solomon had passed away. Jeroboam was asking Rehoboam to lighten the load that Solomon had placed on the Israelites. Solomon’s advisors advised Rehoboam to be kind to Jeroboam and the Israelites and he would win them over.

Here, Rehoboam had the opportunity to keep the nation of Israel as ONE, rather than being split into two, but he rejected the advice of the elders and decided to be even harsher to Jeroboam than Solomon was. This caused a revolt and the people were split into the nations of “Israel” and “Judah.” Rehoboam kept the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the other 10 tribes joined together under Jeroboam to be “Israel.”

The point of this, I think, is that if we want people on our side, the best thing to do is be kind. The harsher we are to people, the more they will rebel and revolt. In my line of work, I oversee many people and oftentimes my knee-jerk reaction is to be punitive and harsh when they get out of line. But, learning from this passage, I need to be EVEN KINDER when they mess up, and help correct them in love, just as the Father does for us.

So my prayer today is that the Holy Spirit fills me up and helps show kindness to people that I oversee. I pray the the Lord helps me correct them in love and that they might see the Lord through me. I pray that I can learn from Rehoboam’s mistake and keep the peace in my world by showing love and kindness to those around me. Amen.