Let's Not Merely Say, But Do

Kindness of the heart is lending a helping hand and not expecting anything in return. In other words, kindness should be shown by our actions, not just our words.

But are we sincere?

Do we automatically ask a person, "Hi, how are you doing?", and expect the response to be, "Fine?" If the response is negative, do we have the time to listen, or do we pretend he or she said, "Fine," simply because we don't care? Is our attitude that we have enough problems of our own to worry about, let alone somebody else's?

Do we say fleetingly to a person at the end of a conversation, "Take care," but have no true desire to show the person that we care about them? Do we tell them to take care of themselves so that we don't have to do it for them?

Do we say to someone in need, "I'll pray for you," but then hang up the phone or walk away without ever really praying for them? Do we imply that we will pray for them during our prayer time, but fail to remember?

The Bible says we need to show we truly love each other by our actions and not merely say that we love each other.

"Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other;

let us show the truth by our actions."

1 John 3:18

When a man is courting a woman, he wins her heart my showing his love to her by being kind, generous, thoughtful, caring, and considerate. If the man continually fails to show his love to the woman, regularly hurting her feelings, leaving her feeling invaluable, inadequate, and insecure, the relationship will end. The man loses his potential mate and he has no one to blame but himself because he was unable to show his love to the woman in full sincerity.

It is the same with the Christian walk. If we don't genuinely show our love for others, we lose souls for God's Kingdom. People are not stupid. They want to see Christ's love in action, not just in meaningless words or insincere quips from the pulpit. Winning souls is mostly done by acting, and not just by speaking.

Let us actively look for ways to show kindness to people. Let kindess be a daily habit and a permanent mind set. Don't wait for someone to ask you for your help: offer it.