Does Kindness Really Work?

The words stung the ears of its listeners as they rolled from the Master’s lips.  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”  Is such an action possible? Do we really have the capacity to function with such grace? And does it really make a difference? When one surveys the life of Christ the evidence is more than convincing, which means it can also be accomplished by those called to be His contemporaries? The following story proves the point. A Christian lady owned two prized chickens that got out of their run and busied themselves in the garden of the lady’s rather grouchy neighbor. The man was incensed when he saw the two hens. So he ran out, caught them, wrung their necks, and threw them back over the fence. As you can imagine, the woman was upset, but she avoided her urge to get angry, rush over and scream at the man. Instead, she took the birds, dressed them out, and prepared two chicken pies. Then she delivered one of the freshly baked pies to the man who had killed her hens. When she handed him the chicken pot pie, she apologized for not being more careful about keeping her chickens in her own yard. Her children, expecting an angry scene, hid behind a bush to see the man’s face and hear what he’d say. But the man was absolutely speechless! The chicken pie and apology filled him with a burning sense of shame and he apologized to her for reacting so harshly. Kindness had completely disarmed the neighbor. When we pick up on the words of Jesus again, He says, “For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” This means the Father refuses to be biased. When it comes to kindness He sees no difference between the good, bad, and the ugly. He treats everyone the same. Likewise, God has not given us the prerogative to behave according to a prejudicial mindset. When it comes to our Christian demeanor, He would have us to see all men the same; to act accordingly by demonstrating His love. In doing so, we will display a tender spirit which will tear at the heart of those who are not so kind. And in the end we will find that kindness really works!