BE NICE
Kindness Is Contagious is a valuable educational documentary on the magic of kindness.
Of all the species on earth, the most helpless for the longest period of time is in the human child. A child is helpless and unable to take care of themselves for months and months.
To be safe, to be protected, to be nurtured, and to mature, babies require and demand kindness.
Kindness was a foreign concept to me as a child, a teenager, a college athlete, and a professional basketball coach.
Criticism and backhanded compliments like “good shot, about time you made one,” smack talk, and all-out aggression were virtues that shadowed kindness. Being nice was a sissy concept in my world of growing up.
Late in my 50’s, I realized the wisdom God had in naming kindness as one of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Kindness is ranked number five. Love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness.
We were born to be kind. We were born to be nice. We thrive on kindness. We delight and light up when people are nice to us.
As I study kindness and the reason for people to resist being kind, it is because they wait for people to be kind to them to be nice back. They focus on getting, not giving.
It is better to be kind and be nice than to receive kindness and niceness. This is the miracle of paying it forward.
The famous book Pay It Forward became a successful movie because people love the idea of kindness and niceness.
Pay it forward is based on the idea that at one dollar per day, multiplied by two every day for 30 days is better than to receive a cash payment of $100,000. The total is about 500 million.
What if each of us were kind to three people each day? And two of these people were nice to three people. In one month each of our be nice acts of kindness could have a kindness impact on 5 million people.
Will you join me to be nice, do an act of kindness to 3 different people for the next 30 days?
Kindness has become my dearest friend in the oncology clinic. Kindness is the best possible medicine to cure grief, depression, failure, disappointment, and heartbreak.
To be nice is so easy to do but so difficult to put into practice daily. Being nice is first a conscious act until it is in your DNA. Being nice is a habit. A good habit.
The ones who master the be nice principle are the happiest people on earth. The good news is that we all can be nice.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9
