You have many childhood memories. When you stop and think about people you met as a child, many thoughts come into your head. Stop for a minute or two and recall people in your early years of your life. What characteristics of those people do you remember? One characteristic trait is, most probably, whether the person was one who was kind or not. So often, the kindness of people in a child’s life is all they remember, or the lack of it.
Billy Graham was the most popular and the greatest evangelist of the twentieth century. When he was talking on this topic, he said this, “Often the only thing a child can remember about an adult in later years, when he or she is grown, was whether or not that person was kind to him or her.” That is so very true. For many of the people you remember from your childhood, one thing that you remember most is whether or not that person was kind to you or not.
The Scriptures, being the Book of books in explaining how to live your earthly pilgrimage, emphasize the fact that you are to be a kind person. For instance, the Lord commands you to, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted…” (Ephesians 4:32). Notice, the command is not to be kind to only people who are kind to you, but to “be kind to one another.” This tells you that kindness is to be expressed to everyone. Look next in the verse. God even tells you how you are to “be kind to one another” by stating tender-heartededness. As you treat other people with a tender heart, then you are going to treat them with kindness.
Yes, recalling that childhood memory of people in your past, reveals that either they were a person of kindness or one without it. Create a childhood memory, or even an adult memory, for someone—be kind!
