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Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we will explore the topic “Give Kindness” as we continue our series “Give”. I hope that this series has provided an opportunity for you to learn how giving of ourselves goes hand in hand with our walk with God. We have learned over these past several messages that our walk with God should not be focused only on receiving but also on seeking out ways to give… giving of our time, giving of our resources, giving of our talents and gifts – all for God to use as He sees fit.
Today, we are going to focus on giving kindness. Unfortunately, in today’s day and age kindness is something that can be hard to come by. We live in a world where it is all about taking care of me, myself and I. We are surrounded by messages that say our goals should be to get more money, more things, more power, and more fame. Few messages encourage giving of any sort, let alone giving kindness.
In a society emphasizing individuality and self-sufficiency, with the notion that each person is solely responsible for their well-being, kindness possesses the remarkable power to break down the barriers that divide us.
Let’s explore 3 ways that we can give kindness. We will explore how even the most basic gestures of kindness have the potential to have a powerful impact on an individual’s life.
Before we dive in, why don’t we take a quick break? I will be right back.
Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of 3 ways to give kindness.
#1 Offer a helping hand
I think most of us can recall a time we encountered someone who needed help. It could be as simple as someone fumbling with a door as they carried groceries or a stranded driver in his broken-down car on a busy motorway.
I think we can also recall how we acted when we saw someone else in need. Most of us would probably continue our journey, acknowledging that someone requires help but also concluding that someone else will help.
While every situation is different, one way we can give kindness is to offer a helping hand when we witness someone in need.
We may not be able to offer direct assistance in every situation, but we should be able and willing to assist someone when it is clear we can offer assistance. In our walk with God, we should consider that God will direct our paths to intersect with those who could use our help. Often, it will be a situation that lasts only for a few moments but has the potential to help in ways you may not consider.
For example, if you happen to be walking down a grocery aisle and see someone reaching for a product that is too high for them to reach, do you simply walk by or do you offer to get the product for them?
As you exit the grocery and walk past someone with a grocery bag that suddenly breaks, spilling groceries onto the sidewalk, do you continue walking, or do you offer to help gather the items into one of the other bags?
These are two very simple examples where a split-second decision to offer a helping hand can go a long way to helping someone in need.
#2 Show courtesy and generosity
Can you recall a time recently when you had the opportunity to influence a situation to display kindness to someone? If you are walking through a doorway and someone is behind you, do you keep it open for them to walk through or do you let the door shut?
If you are in stop-and-go traffic and someone is attempting to enter your lane from an intersecting road, do you nudge up close to the bumper in front of you or do you stop, waiting long enough for the driver to pull into the space in front of you?
If you were standing in a grocery checkout lane and the individual in front of you was a nickel short on a purchase and you have a pocket full of change, would you offer a nickel or would you stay silent, forcing the person to put back an item?
These are three simple examples of opportunities to give kindness by showing courtesy and generosity. As mentioned earlier, you never know how God will place you in situations to be the individual whose kindness brings a positive light into someone’s day.
#3 Offer moral support
The last example I want to offer involves giving your time to someone in need. Life can be challenging at times for all of us. Often, there are circumstances in which little can be done, but the circumstances have a profound effect on our mood, our emotions, and our spirit.
One way to give kindness is to be there to support someone who is experiencing a difficult chapter or even a difficult season in life.
Support could be as simple as making yourself available. In other words, when they would like to vent to someone who can be a listening ear, you can be that ear. It may be the case that your presence can help someone struggling emotionally to not feel so alone.
If there is someone you know who is struggling emotionally, I encourage you to pray and ask God how you can be of service to Him and to that individual. God will know the way that you can be of assistance, including putting words on your heart to speak to help bring comfort and peace.
Wrap Up
In today’s message, we discussed 3 ways to give kindness. We learned that offering a helping hand to someone in need can be a powerful way to show kindness, even in just a few moments. We learned that showing courtesy and generosity can be another way to give kindness, especially when it comes to making an effort to make someone else’s circumstances better at the moment. Lastly, we discussed the idea that being available for someone in distress can be another powerful way to give kindness. Sometimes, being a listening ear is all that someone needs to be able to feel supported.
In all of these circumstances, we must realize that our walk with God is not only meant to serve us but to also serve others. By offering ourselves to God as a vessel to others, God will use us and dispatch us to situations and circumstances where we have opportunities to give kindness. Ask God today how He can use you to show kindness.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Give Kindness
