I was
traveling with some men when we spotted a family stranded alongside the road.
My friends immediately pulled over to help. They got the car running, talked
with the father and mother of the family, and gave them some money for
gasoline. When the mother thanked them over and over, they replied, “We’re glad
to help out, and we do it in Jesus’ name.” As we drove away, I thought how
natural it was for these friends to help people in need and acknowledge the
Lord as the source of their generosity.
Peter
and John exhibited that same joyful generosity when they healed a lame man who
was begging outside the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1-10). This led to their
arrest and appearance before the authorities who asked, “By what power or by
what name have you done this?” Peter replied, “If we this day are judged for a
good deed done to a helpless man . . . let it be known to you all, and to all
the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before
you whole” (Acts 4:7-10).
Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) and a powerful context in which to genuinely speak to others about the Lord.
One act of kindness may teach more about the love of God than many sermons. (RBC)
