As I was driving to work this morning I ran across a bumper sticker that began my thoughts for this post. I guess you could say it inspired this post. I know this is not the first time I have seen this bumper sticker and maybe you have seen it as well, but this morning it hit me and sparked a thought in my mind that I want to share. The bumper sticker said this:
“Commit a random act of KINDNESS”
To this I say both an “amen” and “why does it have to be random?” Why can’t it read “commit an intentional act of KINDNESS?” Now, understand that I know it is probably meaning stop and do something that seems random to other people but it still aids in understanding what I am getting at. We have decided lately that the acts of kindness that the church should be committing need to be random and seemingly have no purpose behind them. We almost speak ill of anyone who commits an act of kindness that has intentions behind it. I have heard many people say to me, “what if the church performed acts of kindness without any intention of pushing Jesus on them?” To this is respond, why does it have to be this way?
Our acts should always be intentional! Our acts of kindness, generosity, and love should always have the underlining motive of the glory of God being shown to the world. Jesus says in Matthew 5, “in the same way, let your light shine before other, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Someone can and will only glorify our Father in heaven when they been redeemed, so, our good works (or deeds in some translations) help bring about salvation. Therefore, they should always be intentional and the intention should always be for the salvation of others because it leads to glorifying God. This is a short post but what more needs to be said.
Commit intentional acts of kindness/generosity/love so that others may see your good works and glorify God. Commit them for the purpose of drawing others into the “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
- one who seeks to be intentional in everything he does