I’m wondering, have you read the verse which says, “Be kind to everyone who is kind to you. Be kind to the people you like. Be kind when you want to impress someone, or when there’s something in it for you”? No, you haven’t seen this verse in Scripture, but Paul wrote to Timothy,

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful (2 Timothy 2:24).

That’s my word of wisdom for the workplace today: Be kind to everyone.

In fact, we’ve put these words on a set of cards, designed to help you remember them or to pass them along to someone else who may need a word of wisdom for the day. You’ll find them ready for your use here.

Today it’s “Be kind to everyone.” I once witnessed a situation in which a Christian sister was obviously unkind to a person simply because she didn’t like that kind of person. Based on her prejudices and some bad experiences she had, she had classified a group of people as undesirable. And so, she was obviously unkind to this person.

My heart was hurt to see a Christian treat someone unkindly. Then I realized I probably do similar things all too often. I mean, it’s easy to be kind to people who seem to deserve our kindness. But the Bible says we are to be kind to everyone. That includes strangers, people who irritate us, people who are not kind to us—everyone includes everyone!

Once I was unkind to a clerk at a hotel who was not very efficient at her job. Her lack of efficiency inconvenienced me just a bit, and though I didn’t say anything, I’m sure the look on my face and my body language was most unkind.

How easy it would have been for me to say something kind to her, to make her feel a little more comfortable, to forget my minor inconvenience and try to help her a bit. The Holy Spirit hit me between the eyes as I walked away. I heard him say, “You had one chance to show her what Jesus is like, and you showed her what you are like.” Ouch! The Lord’s servant must be kind to everyone, even people who don’t do their jobs as well as they should.

Where do you often fail to be kind? Shore up this area with prayer and ask God to help you to be kind, as the servant of the Lord should be, to everyone.