It has
been a while since I have talked about ARK’s (acts of random kindness). These are the stories of someone taking their
time and resources to care for some one else.
Most of the time this is an act that people don’t notice when something
good is done for another person.
I read
a story about a policeman in Texas that gave a pair of boots to a homeless
man. No one was to know what the officer
did, but there was a lady in the restaurant near where the officer and the
homeless man were took a picture. The
picture has gone viral on the Internet.
All the officer wanted to do was help to do was share something he was
no longer using with a man in need.
Every
day we see people in need. It is when we
stop caring about those people that something has to change.
Matthew
6:1-4 NLT
Watch
out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly,
to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in
heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the
hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention
to their acts of charity! I tell you the
truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But
when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees
everything, will reward you.
If you
are a leader, answer this: do you want the people around you to be generous? Then be generous yourself. Check your motives of why you want to help
others. Are you trying to look good to
others or to feel good yourself?
The
fact is there are people all around us who are hurting. Some of them are very rich, but they are still
hurting. Yet many of those hurting
around us are poor. All different kinds
of situations and happenings have shaped the lives of these special people and
placed them where someone can make a huge difference in their lives. I want to make a difference in the lives of
others.
I am
not talking today about tithing or giving to your church or to a non-profit
organization. I am talking about helping
people, one at a time, with the resources we have. Here are some helpful hints in how to go
about doing ARK’s (acts of random kindness):
Do
great things quietly. Leave the
recognition behind or to someone else.
The people who need the recognition or want it have wrong motives. Our motive must be to show people the love of
God. Nothing else.
There
are big rewards for those who do good things in the right ways. These rewards can come in all different
shapes and sizes. Some of the rewards
are easy to see while others come when you least expect it. But it is not about the rewards. It is about God.
Find
someone you can bless today. Maybe it is
simply in buying a cup of coffee for someone in the line behind you at the
restaurant. Maybe it is paying for a
hotel room for someone whose electricity has been cut off or who is
homeless. Give that book away that
someone else will benefit from reading.
Do something.
ARK’s
(acts of random kindness) will help others, but they will also change your life
one person at a time.
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