Kindness Outdone?

“Elisha asked, ‘Can something be done for her?’”  
2 Kings 4:8 

When someone does something kind for me, I usually feel like I have to do something equally or even more kind in return. If I don’t do it, I often feel like I have some unspoken debt to them. Unfortunately, this is not a very healthy view of kindness. Why, you ask? Because the flip side of that coin is that I also feel that if I do a kindness for someone and they don’t at least acknowledge it in some shape or form, I just might start holding a very small grudge against that person. And who do grudges hurt most? The person hanging on to them, of course.  

I was a little under the weather today (Yes, I accidentally gave myself food poisoning again. No, I don’t want to talk about it) and my brother offered to run to the store and get me some chicken noodle soup. I told him, “Yes, please, and also a corn dog, and a kombucha, and one of those high-protein, all-natural drink thingamajigs. My purse is hanging by my coat, just grab the cash outta there!” He grabbed my purse and tossed it at me. It missed me and hit my mug of tea—it was pretty much empty, so no worries there. He told me that I could keep my nasty money and slammed the door on his way out. And all with a giant grin on his face! That is exactly how my brother is all the time, even on his bad days. Not only does he help me when I am clearly struggling with something (darn peanut butter jar lid!), but he recognizes when I have an un-voiced need. For example, another one of his superpowers is that he always knows when I need a hug. The whole point of this story is that at no point has he ever made me feel like I am indebted to him. He has somehow figured out the secret of how to be kind just for the joy of being kind.