In Aesop’s fable “The Lion and the Mouse,” a mighty lion shows an act of kindness toward a tiny mouse. When the mouse returns the favor, Aesop reminds us, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
This story supports the fifth fruit of the spirit. There is no law against an act of kindness!
In the picture book Little Faithfuls: You’re So Kind (published in 2020 by Tommy Nelson and illustrated by Christiane Engel), author Carrie Marrs tells us that God invented kindness long before any of us were born.
He made people so that He could love them and they could love Him back.
He made bright sunshine to play in, sweet apples to munch on, and fuzzy kittens to cuddle.
He made these things to take care of us and make us smile.
The author goes on to explain that God designed the world so His people could help each other and show kindness to everyone.
Marrs also provides many examples of kind characters in the Bible: Joseph forgives his brothers who have treated him unfairly, Miriam protects her younger brother, Aaron helps his brother speak to Pharaoh, Jonathan saves David’s life, a kind Samaritan takes care of a Jewish man who has been beaten and robbed.
Jesus serves as the ultimate example of kindness when he dines with the tax collectors, heals the sick, invites the children to come unto Him, and then gives His life so that we may live.
Oh, to be more like Joseph and Jonathan and Jesus!
My father, like many of these characters in the Bible, believed in the spirit of kindness. When our neighbor across the street lost her husband, Daddy volunteered to mow her lawn. When another family experienced hard times financially, Daddy anonymously paid their utility bill. He often left fresh vegetables from his garden on various back porches around town.
When I was a child, my family lived in a two bedroom, one bath home. Sharing a bathroom among four people sometimes caused inconveniences; nevertheless, when my father’s sister needed a place to stay, he converted our small den into a room for my aunt. The four of us welcomed one more into the fold. A year or so later, my mother’s sister needed a place to stay until she found an apartment of her own. Daddy invited her in and made her feel welcome as well. I don’t remember waiting in line for the bathroom in those days, but I do remember the joy of having my aunts be a part of our family.
My maternal grandparents also believed in cultivating kindness. Even though they had little, they shared it abundantly. Ma and Pa used to tell me stories about how they housed and fed soldiers who were stationed at the nearby Camp Forrest during WWII. When they were in their fifties and sixties after their own children were grown, they raised foster children and generously cared for others.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”—Matthew 25:35-36
These verses remind us that true kindness involves thinking of others before self.
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my father’s favorite poems was “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole. In this poem an old man crosses a vast and deep chasm only to stop on the other side and build a bridge behind him. When asked why he would bother with such a task, since he would never need to cross the chasm again, his response epitomizes the kindness of selfless people.
The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”
In their book A World of Kindness (© 2018), the editors and illustrators of Pajama Press encourage children to find ways to be kind, think about others—and build bridges, so to speak.
This book asks children to reflect upon their actions with questions such as “Do you wait your turn?” and “Do you say please and thank you?” Using a simple format and beautiful illustrations, the book focuses on many acts of kindness including friendliness, understanding, honesty, thoughtfulness, and consideration.
From my own childhood I remember two fictitious characters who helped teach me the importance of kindness. I discovered these characters while sitting in the waiting room at my dentist’s office. Dr. Dunning always had the latest issue of Highlights magazine, and it was here that I discovered two young boys named Goofus and Gallant.
The creators of this magazine first introduced these characters to help children understand the importance of being kind to others. While their looks have changed with the times, their message is still the same: Kindness is always the better option. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:32, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
As demonstrated in this October 2020 issue of Highlights, these characters continue to teach important lessons. As the magazine states, “There’s some of Goofus and Gallant in us all”; however, the Spirit is readily available to help us bear the fruit of kindness and say and do the right thing.
“Bringing in the Sheaves,” a popular gospel song written by Knowles Shaw, tells us the fruits of our kind acts can be harvested in plenty.
Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness,
Sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve;
Waiting for the harvest, and the time of reaping,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Jessica Lisk demonstrates this concept in her book Oh, the Seeds You Can Sow (©2020 From Seeds to Trees Press).
While Janie Grace and her brother Oliver are helping their grandfather in his apple orchard, he tells them his orchard is much like the world. He cuts open an apple and shows the children six tiny seeds. He then explains how those few tiny seeds can grow into many big trees, and life can work much the same way.
“Every time we say things or do things to other people, we are planting seeds in their hearts, and they don’t even know it. We can plant good seeds or bad seeds. And whatever kind of seed we plant will produce that same kind of fruit on the outside.”
“Oh, the seeds you can sow in this world, Janie Grace, if you just look for the opportunities. And every time you say or do something kind, you are planting good seeds in someone else’s heart.”
Janie Grace and her brother come to understand how the simple act of planting one tiny seed of kindness can bear fruit and multiply and possibly change the world.
At the end of this book author Jessica Lisk includes a list of suggestions for how children can plant seeds of kindness. From baking yummy treats for a friend or neighbor to holding the door open for others, these ideas are simple ways to reinforce the spirit of kindness.
One of her suggestions is to write a thank you letter to someone who has made a difference in your life.
With Father’s Day coming up soon, what better way to honor a father or father figure than by writing a personal thank you letter? If my own father were still alive, I would thank him for sowing seeds of kindness within me and my family. I would thank him for his love, his support, his discipline, his teachings, and the examples he set before me.
These letters could also be written to a teacher, a neighbor, a relative, a pastor, or even the mail carrier!
To make it easier, and to model correct letter-writing format, use this downloadable pdf of a postcard template. I encourage you to print these for your children and discuss the importance of showing kindness through this small act of thinking of others before self.
Download the pdf below, and print on the front and back of a sheet of cardstock. Place a 36-cent stamp on the blue square. Using the completed card as an example, explain the addressee’s information, the details in the return address, the date, the salutation, the body, and the closing.
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”—1 John 3:18
In Erika Mathews’ retelling of Aesop’s fable about the mouse and the lion, she closes her poem “Kindly Love” with these words:
“Oh yes,” the mouse agreed,” and so let’s live in harmony.
When life’s too much to handle, I’ll help you, and you help me.
“Let’s lend a paw to every creature, lofty or debased—
For every act of kindly love will never go to waste.”
—from Gather ‘Round the Fables ©2018 by Resting Life
How can you cultivate kindness today?
“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”—Mark Twain
1 Thessalonians 5:13-15; Matthew 13:1-13; Proverbs 21:21; Psalm 126-5-6
