Sowing the Seeds of Kindness

      God-glorifying kindness is not as easy as it sounds.  Surely, most in our society have mastered the “random acts of kindness” philosophy.  But what about the continual acts of kindness philosophy?

      If we will bear this God-glorifying fruit consistently, we must start by sowing the proper seeds.

      The first two seeds are seeds of thought.  We must daily sow seeds of proper thinking about ourselves and others.

      Regarding ourselves, we must not think too highly, but soberly, recognizing God’s grace in our lives (Romans 12:3).  It is difficult to bear kindness when we think others are beneath us.  When we remind ourselves that we are sinners in need of God’s kindness, being kind becomes easier.

      Regarding others, we need to sow positive thoughts, looking for the good in others (Philippians 4:8).  It is easier to be kind to people when we do this.  Of course, some people have been so rude or mean that it is hard to see the good in them.  In those cases, try to understand why they have behaved as they did.  The checkout clerk that was snappy and sarcastic has probably had a bad day.  After all, when we have bad days, don’t we have short tempers?  We must not be rude in return, but try to say something that will make the clerk’s day a little better.

      This brings us to the seeds of words.  If we will bear God-glorifying kindness then we need to say kind things.  Ephesians 4:29 says that our words ought to impart grace.  Thus, instead of making snide, sarcastic, cutting remarks, we ought to be speaking kind, uplifting, helpful words.  Make it your goal to say something kind, encouraging, complimentary and honoring to someone every day.  Especially do this for your spouse, your children, your parents and siblings.  Make sure you do this for your brethren in Christ.  But also extend it to the strangers you meet, the bank-tellers, waiters, clerks, etc.

      Finally, sow the seeds of good, useful, kind deeds.  Remember the Golden Rule, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matthew 7:12).  We want people to look out for us.  We want people to help us when we are in need.  We want people to be nice to us.  We want people to cut us some slack when we have had a bad day, made mistakes or accidentally pulled out in front of them.  That is how we should treat them.

      We ought to do many of our deeds in secret (Matthew 6:3).  God-glorifying kindness is kindness that glorifies God, not self.  Finally, as Jesus advised in Luke 14:12-14, we must make sure to do kind deeds for those who are unable to repay us.

      If we work consistently on sowing these seeds, over time, they will become our way of life and God-glorifying kindness will be natural to us.  How many of these seeds can we sow this week?

Edwin L. Crozier