Showing People They Matter

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:3-8 NIV)

A number of years ago, my wife was required to have her picture and fingerprints captured as part of the process to receive Permanent Residency. I remember when this was finished, she was asked to fill out a “customer service” survey.  One question was, “What service did you not receive that you would like to see provided?”  Her answer: “Smiles.” Through the whole process, none of the officials smiled.  They were “all business.”  As most of us have experienced, in governmental circles, friendliness and kindness are not necessarily job requirements.

But this is seen in other places as well.  Retail store cashiers will often hardly acknowledge you, let alone smile, and often will carry on conversations with others while you are checking out.  Wait staff will often act as though their service is an obligation.  There is a message that comes through when people employed to provide service act this way: You don’t matter.  You are an obligation, a burden, or a means to an end.  

Kindness is a way to demonstrably attribute worth to someone, and as followers of Jesus, kindness should just be a part of who we are.  We serve the Creator of the universe who created us and, out of His kindness, saved us from eternal death.  His nature should be reflected in the way we treat others.  

We should be the ones who greet the cashier with a smile and ask the restaurant server how her day is going.  We should be the ones leaving notes of thanks to those who clean up after us in the dorms or office.  We should be the ones who greet those standing alone in a church or campus ministry meeting.  In all of our interactions with people, we should be looking to communicate that they have worth, that they do matter.

Today, look for ways you can show kindness to people with whom you interact.  Even if you do not know them, they have value.  They, like you, were created by our loving God, and your mission is to help them know that.

© Jim Musser 2012