How to Unleash Acts of Kindness

Do you ever wonder why you perform acts of kindness?  Do you act kindly to others to show what a great person you are?  Are you looking for a pat on the back or some public recognition?  

What if you never received any thanks for your deeds of kindness?  You held open doors, helped someone off with their coat, sent an encouragement card, listened intently when someone spoke or offered financial support to someone with a problem.  Yet all your good work went unnoticed.  Would you stop doing them? 

What is your motive for unleashing acts of kindness?  Is it to get credit from someone else?

A great definition of kindness is the expression of love towards others as you act upon the person God created you to be.

Here God gets the credit and our acts of kindness are more for Him to get the pats on the back, not us.  You are allowing Him to utilize your talents to show His kindness - not yours - to others.

Here are some easy-to-do acts of kindness that any one of us can do:

•Smile at every person you make eye contact with today. Our society is speeding by so fast that it's a nice surprise to get a warm smile from a complete stranger. 

•Bring items to a local animal shelter. You can bring towels, blankets and pet food.  Collect these items and then on your lunch hour swing by and drop them off.  

•Pay someone else's fee. For people who live in states where you have to go through a toll booth, try paying for the person behind you. The reason this is so cool is that the recipient of this good deed will probably return the gesture to someone else.

•Give flowers to unsuspecting persons.  How about the female crossing guards who make sure our kids make it to school every day each week?  If you have a loved one in the hospital, buy a box of candy for the nurses taking care of your relative or friend.  

•Get back to writing letters. Emails are too easy to let someone know how much you appreciate them.  Put a pen to paper and start writing. People appreciate the time and effort it takes to compose a letter.  I love getting thank you cards in the mail better than a quick "thank you" via an email.

•Start showing kindness right in your own neighborhood.  How are you showing kindness to others in your own vicinity?  Have you even introduced yourself to them or made eye contact?  I'm going to break this down to some very simple ways to show consideration for others.

    Think about your neighbors when you park your car.  Did you park well within the lines or are you over-parking into his spot?  

     Consider how loud your music and TV sound. Some people crank up their music as loud as they can, not caring who it bothers.  

    Make sure you pick up after your pet and never leave a collection within walking distance. There are plenty of dog owners who allow their pets to do their duty on other people's lawns without making any attempt to clean up.

    Offer to help your neighbor if they are struggling to bring a heavy piece of furniture into their home or apartment.  This is an opportunity to get to know your neighbor and you'll never know when you'll need their services.

These ideas for showing kindness are excellent. They are simple and they allow you to start right where you live.  If you have additional ideas you can send them in to intelligentkindess@tesh.com.

John

Email John:  johnsblog@teshmedia.com

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Comments

[doesn't fit]

Just discovered this great blog by accident.
Thanks for sharing this with us all.

Can I ask you to cover a topic that the world, even Christians ignore?

Social outcasts.
Kids that are bullied by even the Christians.....
They are bullied in school, taken advantage of, are too nice....the list goes on and on.
No matter how nice they are or how hard they work NO one wants to be around, uncool, unpopular people.
I don't mean evil people we should avoid for safety reasons.
I mean perfectly nice, boring, not much personality, maybe socially off people.

I have seen this in adults all the way to grown adults.
They spend their entire lives alone because even the churches have turned into yet another social club that shuns them.

I have spoken with preachers about this and they honestly have no interests in reaching out to the people in our community like this.

No wonder these folks turn their back on religion and eventually God. It seems like a lifetime of cruelness. Birth to grave......

[henry]

hey John, any idea on how not to be taken advantage of when it comes to being kind?
I mean when it comes to friends expecting kindness?