Kindness Matters

Matthew 22:36–39 (NIV) says, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our hearts. But in our state of constant hurry and stress, we’re not doing that. Jesus also says if we love him, we’ll keep his commandments, and these frazzled and frenzied lives we lead are not what he had in mind for us.

What do our stress levels have to do with being kind? Plenty. When we’re hyper-focused on tasks and events, we don’t focus on others. We can put people off because we’re too busy. We can become irritated because our day was interrupted by others’ needs.

We are all tasked with many important and good things, but how do we love our neighbor despite super-busy lives? Kindness may look different from in days past, but it doesn’t have to be dead.

The verses in Matthew where Jesus himself proclaimed that loving the Lord is the first and greatest commandment, followed closely by loving others, almost immediately came to my mind as I began to think about kindness. I looked up the verses in my Bible and followed the footnotes I found. They led me into the Old Testament, to Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua.

In Leviticus, God’s people are instructed, “Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18 CSB).

Deuteronomy tells us not only to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and strength, but to keep God’s commandments on our hearts, share them with our children, and talk about them at home and wherever we go.

The great Israelite leader, Joshua, quotes Moses in reminding us “to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, keep his commands, be loyal to him, and serve him with all your heart and all your soul” (Joshua 22:5 CSB).

Everything Starts with the Lord

We need to remember that God so loved the world that he sent his Son to be tortured, to suffer, and to die on the cross for our sins. The love God has shown for us is not a superficial love. It’s not a passing “I love you” or heart-eyed emoji love. It’s a deep and sacrificial love.

Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength means developing a relationship with him. The deeper the relationship, the deeper the love. The deeper our love for the Lord, the more we will be able to shine it on others.

The key point in all these verses is to first love the Lord your God. Then love your neighbor as yourself. Everything starts with the Lord. Love him first and it will be easier to love others. When we love him first, we want to share love and kindness with others.

What Does It Mean to Love Our Neighbors as Ourselves?

It may sound a little selfish to love someone like you love yourself. However, we’re supposed to love ourselves—not in a vain and prideful way, but in a way that glorifies the Lord. Our whole purpose here on earth is to glorify the Lord in all we do, and part of that is to make sure we’re appropriate vessels for his Spirit.

We’re usually good at making sure we have what we need. When we couple our innate sense to take care of ourselves with the commandment to bring praise to Lord in all we do, then we love our neighbor as ourselves.

Simple Acts of Kindness Make a Difference

Being kind starts with simple decency.

1. Smile. Think of the last time someone you didn’t know smiled at you. Receiving a simple, kind smile can change someone’s whole perspective. We may never know what people are going through on the inside, but seeing a friendly face, even if it’s just in an aisle at Target, can make a huge difference to someone who’s struggling.
2. Be polite. As parents we encourage our children to say please and thank you and ma’am and sir. As adults we should not forget these tiny words and phrases that show respect and caring for others.
3. Engage face-to-face. Screens seem to rule this age, but face-to-face human contact is so necessary. We need to put away the screens and revel in real human contact from time to time. When we’re with others, we need to fully engage in being with them.
4. Be there. Putting away the screens also allows us to be there for others. If we’re so engrossed in our online world that we miss subtle cues that signal us a friend is in need, we need to focus more on the world right in front of us. The Bible reminds us how important and how simple just being there is in Romans 12:15 (CSB): “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” We don’t have to have all the right words; just being with those who need us can be enough.

Let’s do what we can to bring kindness and the love of the Lord to a hurting world.

Dana Herndon is a writer, blogger, and a middle school teacher. She and her husband live in Georgia with their three children. In addition to teaching and writing, Dana loves to read, paddle board, and sometimes run. She blogs about faith, family, and enjoying the everyday life at danaherndon.com.

Photograph © Gabriel Silverio, used with permission