Kindness at Christmas Time
. . . the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Galations 5:22
At Christmas time we are especially aware of the need to be kind, to share, to give, and to love. When Christ came to earth He demonstrated the meaning of love and kindness. As we move toward Christmas day, let us remember to practice kindness and give it freely.
When I retired ten years ago, my office staff gave me a small book, Words on Kindness, that was compiled by Helen Exley of Great Britain for Hallmark. The book contains quotes from many different sources, all of which describe the concept of kindness and its importance in human relationships and the relationship of God and his people. I would like to share a few of these with you.
Christmas is a time of kindness and giving. We give because we love and because we like the way it feels to make someone else happy. Exley quotes Joyce Hifler as stating, “Giving is so often thought of in terms of the things we give, but our greatest giving is of our time, kindness,and even comfort for those who need it.” Rabbi Harold Kushner focused on the effect of giving on us: “When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, Yes, this is how I ought to feel.”
Mohammed believed that “a person’s true wealth is the good he or she does in the world.” Exley quoted the Talmud, which indicates that, “When a person does a good deed when he or she didn’t have to, God looks down and smiles and says, ‘For this moment alone, it was worth creating the world.” Isn’t that a wonderful image?
Emily Dickinson’s beautiful poem expresses her ideas about the value of kindness. She said, “If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain; If I can ease one life the aching, or cool one pain, or help one fainting robin unto his nest again, I shall not live in vain.”
Prayer: Dear God, Father of our Savior,who was born at Christmastime, help us to remember to be kind and loving even when the holidays get hectic. Help us to feel what others feel who need our kindness. Amen.
Maudie Karickhoff
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