A Kindess Without Rival

I am a Green Bay Packers fan. I’m also an owner! Go Pack Go! The greatest rivalry in the NFL is the Packers versus the Bears. It’s like the Cardinals versus the Cubs! Now you know what I mean! Rivalries exist beyond sports: Montagues versus Capulets, Sharks versus Jets, Ford versus Chevy, McDonald’s versus Burger King, Republicans versus Democrats, Pro-life versus Pro-Choice, and Tax collectors versus Zealots, to name a few.

I recently took the family on vacation. We were returning from Wisconsin when we came across a Casey’s in Northern Illinois. While the family was in the store, I took our dog around the corner to do his business. When we returned, a truck had pulled up to get air for its tires. An elderly gentleman got out and was working his way to the rear driver’s side door. I couldn’t help but notice he had an artificial leg decked out in Chicago Bear’s logos. Upon his head, he wore a Bears hat. It was Packer’s fan meets Bears fan!

Upon returning to my vehicle, I met my family and turned to see my rival Bears fan pushing a walker painstakingly slowly in the direction of the air hose on the side of the building. Without skipping a beat, I told my wife, “I will be back. I’m going to go help that man.” I walked over to the man, reached for the hose, and asked him if I could fill up his tires. He welcomed my gesture and indicated the tire to fill. I filled the tire and asked if he needed anything else, to which he declined, and I was on my way. It was a simple act of kindness.

Godly kindness trumps rivalries. I would do anything for a Packer fan, but a Bears fan? But at this moment, I overlooked the rivalry. It didn’t matter. It never does. Whether you’re a Cardinals fan or a Cubs fan, eat at McDonald’s or that other place, whether you’re conservative or liberal when it comes to reflecting the fruit of the Spirit in the form of kindness, it matters not our differences. They might not look like you, talk, think, or act like you. But you’re a sinner saved by grace, filled with the Holy Spirit of the living God, and they are an image-bearer of the Most High God from whom all blessings flow! It is only suitable that we extend godly kindness to people around us. This attitude is easy when the other person looks like us, thinks like us, or shares the same values and beliefs. What about when the other person loves the very thing you hate? What about when the other person hates the very thing you love?

We extend kindness. This is not our own doing, but the Spirit of God moving in us. God stirs compassion for the broken and lost people around us in our hearts. It is not about us trying harder to be kinder. That is how the world tells you to be kind. Put yourself in their shoes and treat them with kindness the way they need to be treated. That only works until you’ve run out of your will to be kind. Your will is weak compared to God’s endless grace. So don’t think that you fuel your kindness. It can’t sustain. Instead, follow the voice of the Spirit as he moves your heart in compassion for others and extends acts of kindness on a God-level. Imagine how Christ’s love is shared with people practically, and you got to be a part of it! What an honor and privilege to serve our Lord in such a way.

So, the next time you see someone who doesn’t look like you, talk like you, think like you, or act like you, through only the Holy Spirt, you can extend an act of Godly kindness to them. Ask God to change your heart, soften it, and ask him to open your eyes to see opportunities to share his love in a practical way.