Kindheartedness...
"And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ." – Ephesians 4:32.
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In the early 60’s a drama student performed a scene from Annie Get Your Gun which was astounding.
After the performance she was standing at the buffet when a man, whom she did not know, approached her and told her how much he enjoyed her routine. He kindly asked her, “What do you intend to do with the rest of your life.
The young student told him, “I am hoping and dreaming to go to New York some day and make a career for myself on stage.”
The man then asked her, “Then what is stopping you?”
She explained, “I have barely enough money to get back to Los Angeles, let alone to go to New York. In truth, me, as well as my sister, mother, and grandmother are having various times, been living on welfare.”
The man smiled and said, “I will offer you a loan of $5,000 to get started.”
He went on to say, “However, on three conditions. First, if you met with success, you would repay the loan, without interest, in five years. Secondly, you should never reveal my identity. And finally, you should one day "pass the kindness along to help some other person in similar circumstances."
The stranger's kindheartedness was so striking that the young aspirant was convinced, as she put it, "that the good Lord was giving me a strong and unmistakable push."
She accepted the money, went to New York, and became a success. Five years to the day, she paid her benefactor back. Nonetheless, the extraordinary kindness of this man, coupled with his expressed wish to remain anonymous, baffled her.
Then one day, while looking for the Lord's Prayer in a recently published translation of the Bible, the following words from Matthew 6:2-4 seemed to leap off the page: "When you give a gift to a beggar, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do. . .When you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly. . . And your Father Who knows all secrets will reward you."
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Similarly, our loving and merciful God has showered upon us numerous blessings but we think and believe that we have earned it by our merit and strength.
Bear in mind what James says in 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
A gift is marred when its giver seeks praise. The truly kindhearted person simply wants to give, and has absolutely no interest in being congratulated for his efforts. His gift is pure, unalloyed by the dross of egoism. As far as the third condition is concerned, the now successful entertainer admits to "passing the kindness along to others," but secretly and anonymously, of course.
Oh yes, the name of the successful artist in the above story is none other than star of the stage, screen, and television – Miss Carol Burnett!
Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Stay Blessed!
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In the early 60’s a drama student performed a scene from Annie Get Your Gun which was astounding.
After the performance she was standing at the buffet when a man, whom she did not know, approached her and told her how much he enjoyed her routine. He kindly asked her, “What do you intend to do with the rest of your life.
The young student told him, “I am hoping and dreaming to go to New York some day and make a career for myself on stage.”
The man then asked her, “Then what is stopping you?”
She explained, “I have barely enough money to get back to Los Angeles, let alone to go to New York. In truth, me, as well as my sister, mother, and grandmother are having various times, been living on welfare.”
The man smiled and said, “I will offer you a loan of $5,000 to get started.”
He went on to say, “However, on three conditions. First, if you met with success, you would repay the loan, without interest, in five years. Secondly, you should never reveal my identity. And finally, you should one day "pass the kindness along to help some other person in similar circumstances."
The stranger's kindheartedness was so striking that the young aspirant was convinced, as she put it, "that the good Lord was giving me a strong and unmistakable push."
She accepted the money, went to New York, and became a success. Five years to the day, she paid her benefactor back. Nonetheless, the extraordinary kindness of this man, coupled with his expressed wish to remain anonymous, baffled her.
Then one day, while looking for the Lord's Prayer in a recently published translation of the Bible, the following words from Matthew 6:2-4 seemed to leap off the page: "When you give a gift to a beggar, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do. . .When you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly. . . And your Father Who knows all secrets will reward you."
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Similarly, our loving and merciful God has showered upon us numerous blessings but we think and believe that we have earned it by our merit and strength.
Bear in mind what James says in 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
A gift is marred when its giver seeks praise. The truly kindhearted person simply wants to give, and has absolutely no interest in being congratulated for his efforts. His gift is pure, unalloyed by the dross of egoism. As far as the third condition is concerned, the now successful entertainer admits to "passing the kindness along to others," but secretly and anonymously, of course.
Oh yes, the name of the successful artist in the above story is none other than star of the stage, screen, and television – Miss Carol Burnett!
Luke 6:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Stay Blessed!
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