We are told frequently that if we are struggling or in a hard place, that helping others can make ourselves feel better. This is very true in my experience. Just sending a little encouraging text or doing something nice for someone can lift my spirits. However, I never thought very much how the other person might have felt after my gesture of kindness! Not that my efforts were purely selfish, I just vaguely hoped that they made some sort of difference.
Well, the other day I got to be on the receiving end of a little act of kindness. I had been having a hard day, not necessarily a bad day, just the kind of hard day we all seem to be experiencing lately. My neighbor texted me that she had been thinking of me, would like to get together later in the week, (socially distanced of course!) and that she had bought me a product for my hair that I might like. This cheered me up so much, that I was actually surprised.
It also opened my eyes and got me thinking about the true impact of a simple act of kindness. Our world is DESPERATE right now for kindness and healing. We can feel overwhelmed by the needs surrounding us or the mounting difficulties and problems we are facing. However, there are around 330 million of us in this country. If we each just do one small act of kindness every day, that is 330 million smiles, encouraging texts or bottles of hair-product-gifts each day! What if we did 2 or 3 or 4? I believe we could change our world.
As things continue to change and new challenges arise, we need to pull together, especially those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. In the book of Matthew in the Bible Jesus said, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father…for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink…Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you something to drink?’…The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.'”
So according to that passage, we are not even doing these kind things for each other, but for Jesus! That puts an even bigger perspective on this. Will you join me? Will you help me change the world with kindness?
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
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