What
is an act of Kindness?
We
all have an idea of what kindness is, but what is it? Kindness
is an action. It is
Love.
When we show others kindness we give them something
without expecting
anything
in return. As a christian this is one of the most
important things we should do
in
living the life that the Father has given us through His Son. We
should love our
neighbor
as ourselves.
Yesterday,
as I was watering the
plants in the front yard, I noticed the
grass needed
to
be cut. I told myself that I would do that Sunday
afternoon when it would be cooler.
I
didn't waste another thought about it as it was on my to-do
list. My wife and I enjoyed
the
rest of the day spending time together. We
took care of the garden and loved being
with
each other. We were shocked by hearing of the loss of a friend and
talked about
the
strong faith of his
family and
how that
faith in Christ
would get them through this
difficult
time.
We
prayed and went to bed.
When
we got up this morning and were getting ready for Church we heard the
familiar
sound of a lawnmower running. Our dogs started barking at
the front door. As
I
went to look out the front, there was my neighbor mowing my
yard. I was moved by
his
kindness. This
wasn't the first time he has done this for us. In the past two years
as
we were recovering from surgeries and lengthy illnesses he would cut
our
lawn
just being
a good neighbor.
I went over
and touched
his shoulder and told him
thank-you. He said it was
nothing. I shared with him my heartfelt blessing of
showing this
christian what really it is to be a neighbor. I love this
neighbor,
he
shows
love
more than some
Christians
I know. He
doesn't have to cut my
grass.
He understands what it is to be full of kindness. He
shared with me that
as
soon as he gets done, he will cut another friends yard. He
was moved by my
thanks.
My neighbor opened my soul to what being full of love means by
showing
through his action what a good neighbor truly is.
Why
do we fail in sharing Kindness with others?
We
fail in sharing kindness with others by not bringing action to the
words we speak
or
hear or by not fleshing them out each and everyday. Why do
we do this? We get
caught
up in the busyness of life and forget that we need to bring
action to the words
written
in the Bible about loving the Lord, others and ourselves. It's
because of our
selfish
sinful nature. We want what we want when we want it.
Often forgetting that life
in
Christ is sharing, living, and loving those around us. If we
don't love or encourage
others
we miss the blessing of life. The blessing is the gift we
share. I could have
gotten
upset about my neighbor cutting my grass, but what would that
have done?
Nothing,
but alienating and showing him how ungrateful and selfish I am. I
wasn't
going
to deny him the blessing of gifting us with kindness. That
would
have
been wrong in so many different ways. I wanted him to know how
much I
sincerely
appreciated his gift. His gift to us enabled me to see the
grace of Jesus this
morning
in the most simple way. Thank-you. My mind was opened to
the reality of
being
kind to others. This was a true biblical lesson in the flesh.
How
can we give Kindness to others?
We
can give the gift of kindness to others by simply doing. This
one is simple. Put it
into
action. This example is simply an illustration, when you
go to get a drink for
yourself
grab your significant others glass and fill it first. Don't ask just
do it. If you
notice
that someone is looking for something, assist them. If you see
a need in helping
someone
else then go and do it. The key is doing without looking
for acknowledgment
or
credit. It should be something that you can do without anyone
knowing that you did
it. If
you can't do it without someone seeing or acknowledging it do it
anyway. Accept
the
responsibility to bring kindness to the front. We've all
heard the statement, "Pay it
forward."
Give it away by acting with a loving heart and you'll
release the kindness that
God
has blessed you with. Loving Kindness is an Action. Make
it happen.
