S04E097, Kindness doesn’t need to be costly! Andy B 2 Minute Video

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Kindness doesn’t have to be something we reserve for special occasions. It doesn’t have to cost us everything we have either, but it will always cost us something.

At the time of writing there’s proof of the need for kindness in our world as a former South African satanist - of many years - recently became a Christian. Why? Because of an unprompted act of kindness from someone he didn’t know, that led Him straight to the face of Jesus Christ, and His love.

Yesterday evening I was doing some shopping. In front of me was a lady who was about to pay for her shopping, but she couldn’t afford a pack of biscuits as well, so she had hand them back to the cashier. And, with her shopping bill now low enough, she paid and started to leave.

I knew what I needed to do, but I hesitated. What if she was offended at me asking? What would she think of a strange man offering to pay for some of her food? What would the cashier think? Excuses poured through my mind at lightning speed!

But, then, the Holy Spirit shouted louder and my voice found itself - I offered to pay for her packet of biscuits.

She initially said no and, after some hesitation on her part [“see, God, I knew I was wrong to ask, now she’s offended” – shut up Andy (my own voice here!)…wait……], and after a rather direct prompting by the Holy Spirit to stop being stupid – and silent – I found my voice again and persisted with my offer to buy those biscuits for her!

The biscuits went through with my shopping but, as she was leaving, she came right back, grabbed my hand, looked straight in my eyes and told me how exhausted she was after a 12 hour shift. Those biscuits were her way of keeping herself going a bit longer!

Kindness doesn’t have to cost the world. But it will cost us something. It’s also a one ninth of the Fruit of the Spirit, so it’s something we should always be pouring out to others as a result of our relationship with God!

So, be on the lookout for opportunities to be kind! Who knows what difference your kindness make to someone else? And, remember, that you might be the only piece of Jesus they see that day…so make it count!

Just a thought...

Andy B

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Transcript

0:06
So another Andy B 2 Minute Video.

0:10
And I have in my hand a little piece of paper, which is the receipt from some shopping I did yesterday. Now, this isn't about to be a how to save money with Andy, or where to shop in the UK with Andy. This is all about kindness. Because whilst I was at the supermarket I was stood with my shopping on the on the little belt thing waiting for the person who was being served in front of me, to pay for their food and then to leave. And they got so far and the lady behind the till says, "Oh, it's gonna cost you this much money". And the woman would rather worried said, "I haven't got that much. Can you, can you take this off?" Oh, that's, £13, I can, I can afford 13 quid.

0:49
Now, in my head, I thought I should offer to pay for that. It was some biscuits. Not particularly much! £1.45, which really isn't a whole lot of money. Anyway, I thought I should pay for that. And then I thought, don't be stupid Andy, she'll probably think something of what you're trying to say. And she'll read into what you're doing. And maybe they'll be suspicious of you. And, well, maybe they'll think you're trying to do this. And so I shut up.

1:11
And then I had what I can only explain it's kind of like movement in my stomach. And I recognise this very clearly. It's very tangible for me. It's the, it's the Holy Spirit, getting me to take some notice of what's going on.

1:27
And I said, "I'm sorry, can I, can I pay for those biscuits?" And the stomach subsided? That was fine. Not stomach illness, not stomach pain, it's just like movement. It wasn't unpleasant!

1:38
"Can I pay for those? Please?"

1:41
"Oh, no, no, no, please, I don't want you to pay for these. I can't afford them. That's it."

1:45
And she was trying to leave.

1:47
And I said, "Look, please, can I just buy those biscuits for you?"

1:49
"Oh, oh, yes, please, that that will be really kind."

1:54
Now the woman behind the till, to be honest, had a face like thunder and just thought, oh, we've got a crazy lunatic in the room. The woman who was ahead of me, I paid for the, well they scanned the biscuits and she took them, and walked out hurriedly, quite, not embarrassed, just sort of uncomfortable with this scenario. I think of the kindness.

2:14
And then she suddenly, she, she stopped what she was doing, left a trolley and ran back, shook my hand looking me dead in the eyes. "Thank you so much for this, I've just finished a 12 hour shift. I'm really tired. And I really needed those biscuits to pick me up a bit, a bit of energy".

2:28
Now, that kindness cost me £1.45 and I've got the evidence in front of me. It cost me something to be kind. It always costs us something. But it doesn't have to cost us a lot. I brightened one woman's Day, at the end of a long, 12 hour shift wherever she was working. Not a clue! And she left that store knowing that somebody cared.

2:50
I didn't have to mention Jesus. I didn't have to tell her about how much God loves her, and me, and He equips us. I just said, "Look, I know what it's like not to have what you need. I know what that's like, and I just wanted to buy you those. You needed them. You had them. They were there. It's, it's you know, not even teo quid", and she left happier.

3:10
Kindness always costs us something, time, money, resources, whatever. But it doesn't have to cost us a lot. That £1.45 brightened that woman's day.

3:20
I wish it could have brightened the woman behind the till, who just looked at me with a face like thunder. But okay, fair enough. But I made a difference to someone's life.

3:28
I'm not saying this to say 'look at me, look at what I've done'. I'm saying it doesn't have to cost us a lot, to show the kindness of Jesus Christ to the people around us and to show a little bit of humanity.

3:40
Just a thought.