Twelve Days of Thanksgiving — K

K is for Kindness

Everyone has heard of the 12 Days of Christmas.  I thought I would do my version of the 12 days of Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving:  the act of giving thanks; a prayer of gratitude to God.

Kindness: The old English ancestor of kind = gecynde which meant “natural, inborn, inherent” and was used for fearsome things such as death and thunder.  In the 13^th century it went through a melioration and kind was meant to mean “well-born” and “of good nature”.

I like to think that I’m a pretty good judge of people and their character.  I can usually tell if someone is doing something genuinely out of kindness or if they are doing something because they expect something in return.  Maybe I’m a good judge of character because I remember how bad my own personality used to be.  Isn’t it true what they say, that a good convict used to be an ex-cop?  Or maybe it’s the other way around; an ex-convict makes a good cop.  People sometimes do nice things in hopes of gaining stature or prominence in the society or maybe advancing themselves in wealth.  Then there are people that do things genuinely out of the kindness of their hearts. 

Where we shop there is a person that is all about kindness — warm-hearted, friendly, generous, always has a nice word to say.  When ever we shop if that person is working he is always in an excellent mood and I really believe he would give us the shirt of his back if we needed and we don’t even know his name.  We would all be in a better world if more people acted like that.

I thought about that this morning as I reflected on my own kindness.  I like to consider myself a kind person.  I do nice things out of the kindness of my heart and think that I always have been “well-born”. After I recalled an incident that happened yesterday morning at church, I am somewhat convicted.  Following the first song our pastor encourages us to “meet & greet” — say good morning, hug or high-five someone we haven’t spoken to.  Some mornings I don’t feel like being a social butterfly, but obediently I do as the pastor suggests.  Yesterday I came to this one old southern woman whom held out her hand for me to shake and I pulled her in for a hug instead and said, “Good morning, how you doing’?”  As she responded with “Oh, I’m alright, I guess.” I was already looking for the next person I could greet.  Ouch.  How many times in our show of kindness do we miss the opportunity to demonstrate the real sincere kindness that God has put in our hearts?   The “Oh, I’m alright, I guess,” clearly indicated this woman could have used a kind ear to listen to what she may have had to talk about.

Kindness is not something we are born with.  In fact we are born selfish and spiteful.  If you don’t think so, watch a couple of two year old boys with one Tonka Truck.  Unless they are taught to share and play nice they will fight tooth and nail for that truck.  Even though a child can be taught to share and be kind, only the Holy Spirit can fill your heart with the fruit of kindness.  Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.

The next time I do something kind, I am going to be sure that I am doing it genuinely out of the kindness in my heart and not because it is expected of me or because I am doing it out of obligation.

© Crackerberries 2011