You want to feel loved? Go be a pastor at a rural church in South Dakota. It’s like stepping into a family reunion and a group hug at the same time.
I got to preach not only at one, but at TWO churches this weekend. You cannot even begin to imagine how full my love tank is today.
Here’s the thing about having so much love poured into us … it’s gonna overflow.
I forget sometimes about the bigger, broader purpose of kindness in this world. It’s not to delight someone because you bought their coffee or gave them a meal when they were hungry.
The purpose of kindness is to fill someone with love, so they have enough to give to others.
Kindness cannot be contained when you and I are so filled with love that it overflows onto the people around us. Then those people share it with their sphere of influence and then those people send it out even farther.
But it all starts with one. One person who is willing to love thy neighbor so faithfully that they refuse to gossip about them. One person who will talk to the person no one wants to talk to. One person who will ignore the grumblings of the rest of the world and live like they actually believe everything is going to be okay.
I want to be that person. I want my words and actions to fill other people with love. And joy. And a fresh, God-like perspective.
When I am successful at being that person, it’s because other people have poured into me. This weekend, it was a mighty tribe of Jesus-loving farmers and families who gave all they had to make me feel welcome. So now I’m ready to be that person for others.
If you feel like you might be too worn out to start a kindness chain reaction, I’ll let you in on a secret. When I start it, I always feel renewed, refreshed, and reinvigorated. In short, when I am the one being kind, I feel happy.
Knowing that, who are you going to pour your love into today? I can’t wait to see it overflow.