"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ~Matthew 22:36-39 (ESV)
Love is the word of the month. You see and hear it everywhere you go. Romance is in the air. Many of us will buy (or better yet, make) valentines for our sweethearts and get little gifts for our loved ones. What are some other ways to show love?
At the school where I work we're having a kindness campaign. It's loosely based on the theme of the 2000 movie
Pay it Forward. In this movie the students are given the assignment to come up with a way to make their world better. The main character decides he will help others with one simple request, the recipient of kindness needs to do the same. In my school we've given our students the task of performing random acts of kindness. These kind acts will be noted and rewarded. The hope is the students will begin to see, with a few kind acts, they can change the climate in the whole building. And they will feel rewarded by the love they feel in return.
So I challenge you to try to think of as many random acts of kindness you could commit. Start with small things like baking cookies for a friend or giving a waitress a double tip. Don't be afraid to think big. Generous kindness will give you huge rewards. A love ricochet!
