Wimpy Kindness

Wimpy Kindness

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

There is a sizable community of Somali refugees that has relocated to my town. In the past decade and particularly in the past year, my community has struggled with assimilation on a number of issues involving racism, religion, and “otherness.” Several residents, Christian and Muslim, have joined together to create a nonprofit to find common ground and spark dialogue about how to make our community safe and welcoming for everyone.

When I discovered that refugee families were arriving in our community in the dead of winter without coats and boots and warm clothes, I leapt at the chance to bring a national, abstract conversation to life in a tangible, personal way for my family.

And that is how I found myself huddled around the open trunk of my car with the two founding members of this nonprofit on a particularly cold and blustery winter day. My friends and I were donating warm clothes for a newly arrived refugee family, and the stares and smirks on faces of passersby stung momentarily as it occurred to me that we must have looked silly as we shifted bags of clothes between vehicles.

Being kind is frequently perceived as foolish and weak rather than as an admirable trait. Let’s face it: being kind may never be viewed as powerful or strong; sometimes it may even be viewed as ridiculous.

Even so, we are commanded to love others and to be kind to those around us. Jesus provided the example, and he has called us to follow. Remember the exhortation of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, and do not be dismayed or put off by the perception that your kindness is weakness. Being kind changes lives in ways that power cannot.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

What preconceived notions of kindness as weakness or as foolishness do you believe? Ask God to help you let go of these misconceptions about helping others.