Crowns Of Kindness

“NIGHT TO SHINE” is our family’s favorite night of the year. On the Friday before Valentine’s Day, people with special needs are celebrated in all fifty states and in thirty-four countries. Generous donors provide formal attire, beauty sessions, shoeshines, and limos. When their names are announced, the honored guests, accompanied by their “buddies,” are applauded by rows of greeters as they walk, run, or are wheeled down red carpets. They are then treated to a fun-filled evening of dancing, karaoke, and more. The caregivers are also treated to a special dinner. It’s a night of kindness on display!

Kindness was not a quality I saw lived out until later in life, and I decided I wouldn’t let that be the case for my children. Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit, and we find “kind” verses throughout the Bible. Here are just a few:

• “With the kind You [God] show Yourself kind” (Psalm 18:25).
• “Put on a heart of . . . kindness” (Colossians 3:12).
• “Be kind to one another” (Ephesians 4:32).
• “Do not let kindness and truth leave you” (Proverbs 3:3).

In the many roles we play as wives, moms, students, employees, friends, and neighbors, all of us have opportunities to exhibit kindness. My close friend Nancy is one example. She passes out kindness like flyers to the people she encounters in the school where she teaches, the stores where she shops, the church she attends, her varied ministries, and the neighborhood she lives in. Nancy asks insightful questions and expresses genuine interest in people others pass by without a glance.

The need for a “kindness ambassador” is even more obvious at times like Christmas, a season filled with stress and flurry. Nancy takes time to greet overworked employees, asking about their families and holiday plans, and she thanks them for their hard work. When she expressed gratitude to an attendant for “the cleanest restroom” she had ever seen, the woman burst into tears because it was the first time her tireless efforts had been acknowledged. We have the privilege to represent our God to a world that desperately needs to see what His kindness looks like!

I discovered a special kindness verse for our guys that is the antithesis of our modern-movie concept of a rough-and-tough man: “What is desirable in a man is his kindness” (Proverbs 19:22). Our sons were required to memorize this verse, and thankfully, they also saw kindness up close as they watched their dad minister to the poor and needy, start orphanages, build a safe house for exploited girls, and devote his life to reaching the lost with the gospel.

On a mission trip to the Philippines with his dad when he was fifteen, our son Timmy got his vision to start a ministry for people with special needs. Timmy was sharing the gospel at a local school, and a boy with special needs was prevented from attending because his deformities were considered an embarrassment. God’s kindness is mentioned more than two hundred times in our Bibles, and He demonstrated it again in that small mountain village when two friends of the boy lived out the Old Testament meaning of lovingkindness. They showed loyal love by bringing Timmy to the small hut where their crippled friend lay on his cot, and when our son shared the gospel, all three put their faith in Jesus.

As Timmy ran to catch his jeep, he called out, “I’ll see you in heaven!”

Carried by his friends as they hurried to say goodbye to Timmy, the boy who couldn’t walk exclaimed, “And I will run to you!” He got it!

That moment stayed with Timmy, and in 2010 he started the Tim Tebow Foundation, which is committed to fighting for kids who can’t fight for themselves and serving people with special needs. One of his foundation’s programs is Night to Shine, which this year celebrated its seventh anniversary.

At the conclusion of Night to Shine, each guest is crowned as a king or a queen. God also crowns us with His lovingkindness (see Psalm 103:4) and gives us the privilege to influence our world with life-impacting kindness. Whom will you show kindness to today?

REFLECTION

Can you think of a time in your life when someone’s act of kindness—big or small—made a difference in your life? In your interactions with others today, think about how you can be kind. Reach out to someone through a thoughtful email or text, say an encouraging word to a cashier, smile at the people you pass, ask someone how their day is going and listen to their response, hold the door for the person behind you, give a sincere compliment, or thank someone for doing their job well.