While we were at the park, we stopped at the visitor’s center nestled in the mountains. We shopped around awhile, and I saw a stuffed animal moose that I thought was really cute. I’m not a huge stuffed animal person, but this moose was so soft with black eyes and a stubby tail. I decided not to buy it because I didn’t want to spend the money. After my roommates and I left the store, we finished our amazing day in the Rockies and headed home.

A month later, my roommate Sarena was out of town, and I had the bedroom and bathroom all to myself. I got up to take a shower, and when I pulled back the shower curtain, my favorite little moose was sitting inside the bathtub! No, he didn’t walk all the way from the store just to be with me. Sarena saw how much I liked him and secretly bought him for me. Luke the Moose now sits on my pillow and greets me every day when I come home.

One of a Kind
What Sarena did was an act of kindness. The Bible tells us that kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us. Kindness is an active fruit that inspires us to do things for others. Through being kind to others, we can often bless lives in ways we may not realize.

Have you ever had someone do something for you that was really kind? Maybe your best friend let you borrow her new sweater, or your mom made your favorite peanut-butter cookies. Perhaps your little brother took out the garbage for you, cleaned your room and promised to never again say you’re in the bathroom when the boy you like calls. OK, maybe not, but you get the point.

How did you feel about that person who was nice to you? Probably like you had the best little brother in the world! Kindness is an infectious behavior. When people treat you kindly, you want to treat them the same way.

Kill ‘Em With Kindness
Appreciating Sarena when she gave me a gift was easy. But what about the people who aren’t so nice? In Matthew 22:39, Jesus tells us to “love your neighbor as yourself.” I don’t know about you, but I get straight A’s in loving myself. I’m quite skilled in it. According to the Bible, I need to put the same effort into loving others. Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Only love your neighbor who does stuff for you first,” or “Love the neighbor who is always saying encouraging things to you.” Jesus didn’t specify which type of neighbor we are to love; He tells us to love everyone. And Jesus has the right to tell us to be kind to others. He died for the soldiers who nailed His hands and feet to the Cross. Jesus did the greatest act of kindness in history when He died for all of us while we were still sinners.

So, how do we show kindness to people who may not deserve it? The same way we do with people who are nice to us. We are supposed to treat all people with love. Proverbs 25:21-22 says, “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.”

When people are mean to you, they don’t expect you to respond with a smile or a kind word. Such a response catches people off guard. When you choose to show the Lord’s love, those who are mean to you will probably feel guilty, or even mad that their cruelty isn’t causing you to be angry. Their plan eventually will.

Practice Makes Perfect
OK, so we’ve decided to be kind to everyone. What does that look like? Many times kindness requires that we pay special attention to others.

Sarena’s gift to me is a great example. Read through the following list of simple and practical ways to put kindness into action, and do some of them for the people in your life.

• Smile at every person you see today.
• Call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while.
• Surprise your mom by dusting or vacuuming the house.
• Leave a note inside your dad’s coat pocket so he’ll find it when he goes to work.
• Help your younger sibling with his homework.
• Buy a candy bar for someone and include a note about how sweet she is.
• Write someone a poem or paint her a picture.
• Find a Bible verse about a particular character quality and write an encouraging note to a friend about how you see that virtue in her life.
• Frame a picture of a friend and yourself, and wrap it in fun paper.
• Bake cookies for your neighbor.

I’m sure you can think of more ways to show kindness to others. As the saying goes, “A little kindness goes a long way.” Sometimes it only takes something as small as a smile to lift someone’s mood. Let’s work on being thoughtful of others by showing them kindness through our words and actions.