A little kindness goes a long way
“And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel: instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” - 2 Timothy 2: 24
My eldest daughter is now studying for her A’ Levels. The work load is piling up and several essay questions are now due in. On top of this she had been feeling a bit off-colour just lately. Yesterday I went into her bedroom and it looked a bit of a pickle to say the least! As I observed the chaos before me I thought, ‘yes this is really an outward display of how she is feeling inside at the moment.’ Her written work is immaculate and her teachers often comment on the neatness of the presentation of her work. She is neat and tidy in her appearance and spends considerable time in the bathroom each morning ‘getting ready’ for school. I know that although she has let her bedroom get into a mess she doesn’t really like it like this and it is just a reflection of how she feels at the moment. Normally I would wait for an opportune moment and suggest that she, ‘should really tidy her room up.’ Today however, I recalled how one of the older ladies in church told me that when her daughter was doing her A’ Levels she would tidy her daughter’s bedroom for her when she was under pressure with a heavy work-load. Her daughter really appreciated this kind act from her mum.
A kind act, a kind word, a little touch of kindness goes a long way. When we are under pressure, stressed by our circumstances, feeling that everything has become too much for us, isn’t it is that little touch of kindness that really makes a difference? A word of encouragement, a kind act, even just someone making a cup of tea for you - are these not the things which make a huge difference? Having compassion for another, sometimes at the expense of our own comfort, is surely one of the most important instructions of the New Testament. Jesus’ story about the ‘Good Samaritan’, his compassion towards the adulterous woman in John 8: 1-11, his tears of compassion for Martha and Mary over their brother Lazarus’ death teaches us that to have compassion, enough even to move us to kind deeds, is surely one of the highest aspirations of the human race.
My daughter’s appreciation of coming home to a neat and tidy room that day was enough to satisfy me that I had made the right choice in tidying it up for her. And maybe, in turn, it might also teach her that: “A little kindness goes a long way.”