Kindness
But I’ve experienced the opposite too. New Yorkers are regularly exhibit random acts
of kindness. I’ve seen people chase
someone down to return something that another person dropped. I’ve seen multitudes of people give money to
complete strangers who are begging on the sidewalk or subway. I regularly see people offer their seat to
others on the subway. Often, I observe
strangers helping strangers up the stairway with their luggage or baby
strollers.
These random acts of kindness don’t get our attention because
of the random acts of rudeness that If one person is rude, two are kind, and
seven are ambivalent, which do we remember?
The one rude person is the most memorable and moves the rude reputation
forward.
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| Random Acts of Rudeness Stink |
What if we were always kind?
What if all that you did was considered an act of kindness? What if your family members only acted kindly
toward one another? What if your church
was known for its consistent kindness? What
if each action of every member was entirely and always kind? That would be quite a draw for our society and
a great greenhouse for the disciple making!
It would also reflect the character of God. Psalm 145 tells us that every act of God is
an act of So, when we are kind in
our speech, when we are considerate in our manners and all our actions toward
those who are our friends and toward those who are “enemies”, we are exhibiting
the character of our God who is kind in all His deeds. Jesus taught the same concept in the Sermon
on the Mount:
"You have heard that it was said, 'you shall love your
neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say
to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may
be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil
and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew
5:43-45 italics mine).
One incentive toward this type of living is that the word
comes up in another context in 2 Samuel 22:26 where David sings a Song of
deliverance from Saul: "With the kind You show Yourself kind.” Not only is God kind, but Scripture tells us
that God will show kindness to those who are kind.
When was the last time you performed a random act of
kindness? Let me encourage you to
perform one today. And, better yet, let me
encourage you, through Christ’s power living through you, to conform to God’s
standard - that all your actions would be acts of kindness.
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