“Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.” - Proverbs 12:25
“Hi!” I waved to the old man as we walked in opposite directions on the sidewalk. I was on one of my morning 'walk and worship' trips around the neighborhood before work, and I was determined to put everyone I saw in as good of a mood as me. While I was expecting a sweet smile and a nice greeting from my new elderly sidewalk friend, all I received in return for my morning salutation was a scowl. Of course, my mind flooded with negativity in hyper speed.
“How dare him?” I thought. “All I was trying to do was be kind to him and he gives me that mean of a glare?”
While my mind trotted down a path of pessimistic destruction, I felt God nudge me to let go of the feeling of rejection and put myself in this man's shoes. It’s like I heard Him say, “what if that was the first time that man had been greeted in weeks, and he just didn’t know how to react?”
Whoa.
That perspective changes everything. What if our acts of kindness, our smiles, morning greetings, or random compliments are the only signs of love that people might experience or recognize today? Would we increase their effectiveness and occurrences?
While it may seem like a lot of pressure to be the love of Christ in the world, it’s what we’re called to do as Christians and equipped to carry out as vessels of the Holy Spirit. And not just with people who seem inviting or that we know will return the kindness.
We’re called to show God’s love to all people:
That extremely political Facebook friend - your grouchy neighbor who complains about everything - the grocery store clerk who won’t look you in the eye, much less speak to you - the lady who cut you off in traffic and then acted as if you wronged her in some way. They’re all God’s children, and we’re in charge of loving them accordingly.
We were created in the image of love. Let’s be women who go out of our way to make others feel seen, loved and included as children of God today!
Challenge: Go out of your way to do something nice for someone today with the perspective that it could be the only act of kindness they'll see in their day.
1 comment
Reading this just hit me in my gut.
“What if our acts of kindness, our smiles, morning greetings, or random compliments are the only signs of love that people might experience or recognize today?”
That power that I could have for another person is almost startling. Definitely impressed upon me how I’ve acted so far today and how my smile just might be the catalyst to help stop someone’s day of negative chain reactions.
Sometimes I don’t like to think I even matter enough to be able to hold the power to make someone happy.
And other times I feel closed off and defensive, like others aren’t worth my kindness.
But neither of those poor options feel good to my heart.
So thanks for this reminder!