The Gift Of Quarters

The Gift of Quarters

Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Matthew 6:4

One of my husband’s favorite memories is of a self-driven adventure he embarked on when he was a teenager. It was a summer afternoon, and he found himself walking down the main street of a downtown area that was lined with bustling stores and restaurants and metered parking. For some reason (the “why” having faded with time), his pockets were filled with quarters, and so, on a whim, he began walking up and down the street, feeding expired meters.

The first time he told me this story, he smiled at the memory, and when I asked him why his teenage self had decided to pay meters, his response was simple: he had the quarters in his pocket, and he was able to help people avoid expensive consequences for the mere cost of twenty-five cents. He added how he loved the fact that he was feeding those meters secretly and that no one would know what he had done for them.

In a world intent on sharing far too much on social media, I find myself struggling to strike the balance between sharing acts of kindness with others in a genuine attempt to get them to join in and the caution set forth in Matthew 6. We are warned that publicly patting ourselves on the back for our good deeds is not pleasing to God and instead we are called to quietly meet needs, letting the knowledge of what we’ve done stay between us and God.

It’s a careful balancing act, and one that requires prayer. Before I share about an act of kindness, I’ve learned to ask God to show me my heart’s reasoning in wanting to share, trying to always keep in mind how easy it is to become prideful. While I do share some things because I want to encourage others, there are many quiet, secret acts of kindness that my husband and I do—keeping it a secret between us and God.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Perform a kind act secretly, taking joy in knowing that God sees what you’ve done.