One of the biggest qualities missing from today's world is kindness—behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistance, or concern for others without expecting praise or reward in return.
People have forgotten how to be nice to one another. This is really sad. However, it is also an opportunity for a godly man to be a light in a dark world as he brings kindness into every situation he enters.
For instance, Adessa and I were once waiting for an appointment. It was impossible to miss the gentleman in front of us accusing the woman behind the counter of being a crook. Everyone heard him say, "You're all just a bunch of thieves" over and over again.
Granted, I have no idea what his dispute involved. However, I'm sure that the woman waiting on him was not responsible and was doing all she could to help him.
So when it was our turn, I apologized to her on behalf of the man. I said, "I'm sorry you were treated that way." Then, we did all we could to be as encouraging and cooperative as possible while we had our issue addressed.
Another time, I was driving to Delaware. I don't remember if it was a Mantour, a speaking engagement, or a trip to the beach. But I remember the line to pay my turnpike toll took a little long.
As I finally approached the booth, I noticed that the car in front of me had four men in it, and all four of them were screaming at the toll booth worker, swearing at her, and using all of the four-letter words they could remember to berate her. It made me angry at how they treated her, but even more, I felt so bad for this woman trying to do her job to provide her income.
When it was our time to pay our toll, I told the woman, "Those men had no right to treat you that way, and they will never apologize for it, so allow me to apologize for them. I am so sorry they treated you that way; they were wrong, and you didn't deserve it."
The woman was visibly surprised, but was also touched, and you could see her relax. The tenseness in her body relaxed, knowing we would not yell at her for the long line, and she could move past their behavior and go on with her day.
Of course, we don't just make it a point to encourage people after others have lost their temper. We are also very mindful that we don't allow our anger or frustration to explode on other people when we are confronted with difficult situations or inconveniences.
For instance, as traveling ministers, we often run into problems with hotel rooms. The rooms we request aren't reserved, sometimes the rooms we get are dirty and need attention, other times things break, and we need to move to different rooms completely. (Truly, traveling is not as glamorous as it seems.) When these things happen, we try to put the person helping us at ease, to let them know we all make mistakes. We show that we aren't angry. We just need something fixed.
As we've lived our lives this way, it's been amazing what God has been able to do. One of my favorite stories involves a gas station attendant who started as a stranger. Every time I paid for my gas, I made it a point to ask her how she was doing, to talk with her, and always to say, "Have a great day!"
Over time, as I was friendly and talked to her every time we filled our tank, she began to see us as friends. After a while, when she saw us coming, she'd talk with me, leave the payment room, and come over to the car to chat with Adessa. Eventually, we were able to share with her about God, tell her about a local church she might enjoy, and even give her a copy of one of Adessa's books about Finding Significance in Jesus. Yet, honestly, we never set out to witness to her. We continued to treat people the way God would treat them, and she responded to the love she was shown.
Like a light in the darkness, treating people with kindness and respect helps people identify Christians as different.
Here's today's question: Are you kind?
How do you show kindness to the world around you?
Starting at home, are you kind to your family?
What about your coworkers? Your friends? Your neighbors?
What are some areas that you can change so that people will see you as a kind man and you can obey the Bible's teaching:
“And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil.” (2 Timothy 2:24, ESV)
How can you show kindness today?
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