Seize Every Opportunity to Show Kindness
By Rick Warren
“Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (Proverbs 3:27-28 The Message/GNT).
We’ve been looking at lessons about kindness from the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible. First, the Good Samaritan opened his eyes to see the need around him. Then, he listened to the injured man’s pain and sympathized with him.
Then, we see that the Good Samaritan seized the moment:“Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them” (Luke 10:34a NLT).He didn’t wait. He didn’t delay. He didn’t procrastinate. He did what he could at the very moment he saw the need.
Love is something you do. Love doesn’t just say, “I’m sorry for this guy. Isn’t it a shame? Isn’t that too bad?” Love seizes the moment.
The Good Samaritan did several things in that moment: Some translations say the he “stooped down.” In other words, he got on the man’s level. He didn’t pretend he was superior, and he didn’t talk down to him.
Second, he used what he had. He dressed the man’s wounds with wine and oil. Why? That’s what he had on his donkey. The wine worked okay because it’s alcohol. It’s an antiseptic. The oil worked okay because it would be soothing to the man’s wounds.
Then it says the Good Samaritan dressed the man with bandages. Where did he get the bandages? This guy’s not a doctor. He didn’t have a first aid kit. And the hurt man has been stripped naked, so he didn’t have any clothes. The bandages are the Samaritan’s own clothes.
The Good Samaritan did what he could with what he had at that particular moment. Proverbs 3:27-28 says, “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (The Message/GNT).
The world is full of wounded people. Do you ever wonder how many people you walk by every day who are wounded? Maybe they’re not wounded physically, but they’re wounded emotionally. They’re wounded spiritually. They’re wounded financially. And they need your love. They need your kindness.
Don’t wait for better conditions. Don’t wait until it’s more convenient. Don’t put off what you know you should do for someone today. God will be with you as you seize the moment.
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Talk It Over
Reflect on your schedule. What may be in your schedule that keeps you from being able to seize opportunities to show kindness?
Think of someone in your life who you know is hurting. What can you do today to show kindness to that person?
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This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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