The other day I was thinking about a thing my youth group used to do when I was in junior high. Our youth pastor called it "RAK Attack". At first I thought it was just some kind of game, after all we did play some of the coolest games at youth group (not sure if anything will ever beat running around the entire church with the lights off, using PVC pipes as blowguns, shooting nerf darts at the other team trying to take out one specific member of their team marked as "the president"... but that my friends, is another story). It wasn't a game. "RAK" was an abbreviation for "Random Acts of Kindness". What we would do is get together and do stuff for people, whether it be cleaning parts of the church, or baking cookies for people. The whole idea was to do random acts of kindness.
And so the other day I started to think about kindness and love. I felt the Holy Spirit's presence in me, and encouraging me to try to go out of my way to do more kind and loving things for people. Yesterday I was feeling a little bit down at one point during the day. And then I looked up at my wall and saw a little note card that that same youth pastor left on my bed, as well as all the other guys' beds on our missions trip to Mancelona, Michigan in 2010. He left us all notes that said "You are loved!" with our trip theme "Live unfair." on the back, along with a candy bar sitting next to it.
This was a great act of kindness and love. And so I was thinking about how I like the feeling of being loved. I hate it when it feels like nobody is paying attention to me. No one likes that. Whether or not they admit it, everyone wants to feel loved.
And then I was thinking, well maybe not every day someone's going to go out of their way to say or do something that touches my heart. My next thought was, why don't I try to do that for other people?
I am a selfish person. We all are selfish. That's why we spend so much time watching and covering our own backs. We think maybe we can do something for someone else, but then again that requires work. And we are lazy. We simply love ourselves too much.
And so lately I've been thinking how wrong that it is. The Bible calls for us to love our neighbors. And we aren't to love just our friends, but our enemies too. Matthew 5:44-48 reads, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
The Bible says we are to act one way, and if I am not acting in that way, then that isn't biblical, and that's not good. That means there is stuff for me to improve on. And believe me, I'm far from perfect. I'm a sinner.
And so I was feeling really convicted. While I wouldn't say that I am necessarily a mean kid (I guess that's up for other people to determine), I haven't been as loving or as kind as I could be. I was thinking about how I need to go out of my way to do stuff for people. To let God's love be shown through me through random acts of kindness.
How? I feel like my love language has always been encouragement. When people go out of their way to say something nice and uplifting to me, it makes me feel good. You never know how much a little comment can brighten someone's day.
On our missions trips we did something called "encouragement cards" where we would send a note to a person each day encouraging them. I loved writing and receiving these. But why is that something we only do on missions trips? We should be loving and encouraging people every day of our lives!
We can also go out of our way to do little favors or help people with stuff. I heard an amazing story on the K-Love radio station, and I later found the article on Fox News' website. Check this out:
A Washington state bride-to-be whose wedding dress was stolen the day of the ceremony found a fairy godmother of sorts in an unlikely way: by calling 911.
The News Tribune of Tacoma reports the bride-to-be called after her wedding dress was stolen out of her car near her home.
The 911 operator who answered the call tells the paper that she took down the woman’s information as usual, but was touched by her story.
“I finally figured out what was going on, and asked when the ceremony was scheduled,” Candice, who only wanted to give her first name, told The News Tribune. “When she said ‘today,’ my heart broke in two for her.”
When she got off the phone, Candice asked her supervisor if she could offer her dress, which she wore in her own wedding just 18 months prior, to the bride.
“All through the call I was thinking, ‘I have a dress ...’” she said.
With her supervisor’s approval, Candice got hold of the police officer who responded to the scene and texted the officer a picture of her dress to show the bride.
The bride said she believed it would fit her, so Candice and her husband went to her parents’ house, retrieved the dress, and dropped it off at the bride’s fiancé’s home.
She tells the paper the bride wore the dress and texted her the next day to tell her the wedding went off without a hitch.
“Candice is an extraordinary person,” her manager Vonnie Mayer tells The News Tribune. “She had something someone else needed, and she made it happen.”
Candice says she does not want the attention focused on her, and that she believes God made the situation possible.
“God does awesome things, and this woman, whose wedding day might have been ruined, had her special day, after all,” she said."
What an awesome story of kindness. Stories like these inspire me to be a kinder and more loving person.
If you aren't a Christian and you are reading this, you may feel different. But I think as a whole, regardless of our beliefs, most people would agree that this world would be a better place if it were to be more loving. It's not going to change significantly. This world is flawed. But that doesn't change the fact that you can treat people with love, respect and encouragement. That's not to say that you already do. But I want to challenge everyone that is reading to try to go out of their way to do something for someone else. Chances are it will probably bring you more joy.
As for myself, I am going to try to text or Facebook message someone every day encouraging them and building them up. I want God's love to be shown through me. I know that I find joy in that. And well, I know it's the way I would love to be treated. I also enjoy treating people that way.
So I challenge you to reach out to someone today. It might just be the compliment that person needed to get through their work or school day. You never know how a far a few words of kindness can go. If you accept this challenge, I would love to hear stories of what you did for someone else, or what someone did for you. Please comment below or on my Facebook fan page. Or you can tweet me @vellvita7. As always, thanks for reading and have an awesome day!
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