So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9
I wonder if you have seen this phrase before, “in a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
I have come across it a number of times, and I always take a moment to be thankful for those who are so kind to me, and then ask forgiveness for the times I could have been kinder to someone else. I find this little saying to be a reminder that we have what it takes to offer kindness to others, but like in so many other places in life, there are days we fall short.
There are those days that we are so overwhelmed by doubt, stress, and the hardships of the world, that we take it out of someone else. It might be someone close to us, a spouse or a child, whom we can later ask forgiveness, and apologize. Sometimes, however, it’s someone we don’t even really know. It’s the clerk at the supermarket, or the waiter at a restaurant. We are having a bad day, and we take it out on them – the one just trying to do their job. It’s hard to go back and apologize when we may or may not ever see that person again.
We aren’t perfect, but Paul reminds us that we are called to do what is right to bear the burdens of this world, and even bear the burdens of others in community. It is for this reason we should not give up on doing what is right, or what is kind. There are plenty of people in this world who won’t give a second thought about the harsh words or actions that they laid on another person; so we should be kind.
Kindness doesn’t have to be hard or a struggle, and doesn’t take much effort at all, it simply takes an awareness that we have the opportunity and the ability to make someone else’s day brighter. And in the process, we might find our cup a little fuller as well.
Grace & Peace,
Sam