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SPREADING A LITTLE KINDNESS

By Sarah Mariano Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Ivan Dervisevic @ Flickr (CC)

My first year of college, I was stressed. I didn’t know how I was going to afford tuition, I didn’t have a job lined up, and I didn’t have any clue how I would have time to get it all done. I went grocery shopping with a few people I had met recently, and the whole time I was filled with worry about how I was going to get a job and how much of my savings I had already spent. I got to the checkout, and my friend, whom I had known maybe three weeks, simply said, “I got it.” This moment was small, but I was reminded that in everything God is my provider. He said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” (Matt. 6:25, ESV) God used someone’s simple gesture as a powerful way of communicating truth when I needed it most. The great part is that God wants to use all of us to encourage other people using what he has given us!

Providing for people financially is one way of sharing God’s love, but many ways don’t involve money: giving a note of encouragement, baking cookies, cleaning a kitchen, or spending time with someone. People can be affected by the simplest gestures, and this comes from the fact that we were created for community and for mutual love and service for one another. (Gal. 5:13) As we approach the holiday season and remember things we are grateful for, let’s also celebrate the gift of community by showing one another love and gratitude in gestures like these.

People can be affected by the simplest gestures, and this comes from the fact that we were created for community and for mutual love and service for one another.

Maybe part of the battle is that you want to bless people in your community, but you don’t know what to give. I start by asking myself what I have. Do I have a free Saturday I could use to spend time with that person? Do I have some extra money I could use to buy a friend a latte? Or do I have a moment to send a text? Any of these gestures could make someone feel appreciated. Next I like to think about what that person would most like. What can I offer that this person would appreciate? For someone who has a lot on their plate, offering to help with an errand may be better than inviting them to take off a whole afternoon to play Ultimate Frisbee with you. Thinking of ways to meet their needs might be the most meaningful gift.

People may notice the little acts of service, the small offerings made in everyday encounters, or the quiet sacrifices amidst the mundane struggle of the present. An act of service can be momentous, but it can also easily be forgotten. There may not be accolades or even notice. We act in service of God and expect no reward except his pleasure.

When Jesus ministered around Judah, there were people who wanted religious recognition. They prayed loudly on street corners and performed religious rites before crowds, not for mutual edification or to encourage others in faith but for selfish promotion. Jesus condemned this pretension. He instructed his followers to pray without seeking attention: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Matt. 6:5, ESV). This applies to all our actions too. Jesus calls us to a life of humility, a desire for God’s glory rather than our own. In the next verse, Jesus goes on to say, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:6, ESV).

We are to act quietly, seeking only the approval of God, our Father, not the approval of others. Validation from others is only an added blessing that must not rule us or distract us from our true motivation. God is our ultimate judge, our ultimate blessing, and our ultimate source of identity. This holiday season, the motivation to give can be the fact that we have been given so much. God, who supplies all of our needs and gives his love abundantly, came to earth in the form of a man; he suffered and died, bearing the weight of our sins, so that we could have eternal life with him. The Father calls us to himself knowing that we will never have anything to offer that compares with the greatness of his love. The Lord gave to us without expecting anything in return because everything we have is already his. It is with this same attitude that we give to those around us. We cannot expect anything in return because our gift is motivated by love and not personal gain. God has given us everything we need, and validation from others isn’t necessary to satisfy our desire for love. We give because we have received, and this not of our own power but of Christ in us.

SPREADING A LITTLE KINDNESS

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Filed Under: Community, Connect, Featured Tagged With: community, gestures, Issue 25, kindness

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Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on ou Our striving to be like Jesus or do his work on our own is in vain. We can never hope to achieve the same level that Jesus was on while we are still here on Earth. We’re like little kids, struggling just to walk. But that’s why Jesus gave us an example of redeemed followers in the form of the Apostles, who were his close group of students here on Earth. He chose a group of broken, sinful men, and ultimately shaped them into the group responsible for continuing his ministry here on Earth. ⁠
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Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others an Often I picture Jesus telling us to love others and not to judge. I forget that when he said, “Come follow me,” he wasn’t just inviting us to a strict set of rules but to a real and exciting life whether you turn out to be a pastor, a doctor, designer or simply “Dad.” Sometimes I forget one of his main messages was that he came to give us a better life than we could ever dream of—life to the fullest. Jesus wasn’t locking us down to a vocation or job title. It’s as if he was saying, “Real, vibrant life is available to you now. Following me, loving me and living like me is your real calling…the rest is just there to aid you in following, loving and living.”⁠
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Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the Like Morpheus, I want to “show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” There is yet another parallel between the Christian story and The Matrix, simultaneously the most foundational and the most captivating. It’s that something which is missing, something which is not quite right with the world. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but you know that it’s there. At the outset of the first film, Neo is searching for it. Trinity asserts that “it’s the question that drives us.” Morpheus claims that “you can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes.” The question is: What if I’ve only ever scratched the surface of all that life has to offer? What if there is a deeper, truer current of reality, ever-present behind all of my life’s experiences, to which I might awaken at any moment?⁠
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