Christmas is here!

Kindness can be simple. Or it can be extravagant. It can be empathetic, generous, altruistic, or simply friendly.

Parents encourage their children to be kind to their family, friends and animals. We often hear people talk of random acts of kindness, and 13 November is even nominated as World Kindness Day! Throughout the Christmas season, amid the rush of all our extra shopping, we especially appreciate the kindness of polite shop assistants and patient customers.

Kindness is part of our everyday vocabulary; it has incredible power and is a character trait we long to be known for.

Earlier this year, Helga’s Bread commissioned research into kindness. The Kindness in Australia Report (McCrindle Research, 2021) revealed Australians give 16 acts of kindness per week. But we only receive six. Where are the missing 10?

One theory is that we don’t always allow ourselves to receive kindness. We decline kind offers of help with carrying the shopping to the car. We don’t accept the offer of childminding, even though things are tough at home. We say we’re fine, instead of accepting the offer of a shoulder to cry on or a friend to share our troubles with.

This shouldn’t stop us from continuing to make those offers of kindness, but it should encourage us to accept a few more of them, allowing others to express kindness to us. It’s good to pause, enjoy the moment, and accept the kindness into our lives. To allow that kindness to warm our hearts and bring light to our days.

Jesus – a message of love and kindness

Over two thousand years ago, God showed his love and kindness to the world by sending his one and only Son as a baby. Jesus was born in Bethlehem to his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph.

Just before his birth, the Bible says a man called Zechariah prophesied of Jesus, saying, “God’s love and kindness will shine upon us like the sun that rises in the sky. On us who live in the dark shadow of death this light will shine to guide us into a life of peace” (Luke chapter 1 verses 78-79, CEV).

This prophecy means Jesus is the example and fulfilment of God’s love and kindness. He came to shine a light into the darkness and show people God’s perfect peace, joy for our lives, and hope for the future.

While Jesus lived on Earth, he showed God’s love by healing sickness, being kind to the outcasts and sharing stories about God’s plans for our lives [see the book of Mark in the Bible]. But his greatest act of love and kindness was when he took the blame for all our sins by dying on the cross, then rose back to life so we can have a relationship with God [read more about this in the story of Easter]. This is what gives us peace, joy and hope.