Are you familiar with Random Acts of Kindness? It is the idea that in order to spread joy, you do something unexpectedly nice for someone else. You do this without asking anything in return. You are just practicing kindness. You can pay for someone else’s coffee, give a big tip, help carry grocery bags out to someone’s car. You can do your sister’s chores, leave a kind note for a boss, or surprise your spouse with her favorite dessert. The kindness does not have to be big, but it is supposed to be unexpected.

Sometimes being kind to a stranger, or just being extra kind unexpectedly, can be much easier than being consistently kind, especially to someone who is not usually kind back. But God doesn’t tell us that our love is only kind when the other person is kind too. He just says, “Love is kind.”

This makes sense. How can you reflect the loving heart of God if you are mean to those around you? Even if it is someone who was mean to you first. That person probably expects you to be mean back to them. Call it an “expected act of meanness.” Instead, if you show them an “unexpected act of kindness,” not just once but over and over, hopefully your kindness will motivate them to wonder about what you have. That makes an opportunity to share the love of Christ. His love should always be expected.                                               This is Luis Palau.