Kindness and generosity

https://odb.org/2025/12/11/the-shoes-off-his-feet

Colossians 3:12–17 (NIV): 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

An older man jogging down a street in New York City stopped in his tracks when he noticed a pair of battered sneakers placed near a homeless man’s sign requesting help. When the jogger learned that the two men wore a similar size, he gave the younger, homeless man the shoes (and socks!) off his feet and walked home barefoot. But not before explaining, “I’ve been blessed my whole life. God has been very good to me, so I feel like I should bless you too.” (Alyson Kieda, Our Daily Bread 11th December 2025)

From giving away money to the things we own, it is showing kindness to another that points to Jesus. If we are well-off, giving away our pair of shoes could well mean an excuse to buy the latest one in the market! I digress. The truth is parting with things is not as easy as it looks. But if motivated by our gratefulness to and love for Christ, we could do much more. Ultimately however it is not our duty to help every poor and homeless person we see. As Jesus once said, the poor you will always have with you but you will not always have Him when the disciples criticised Mary (sister of Martha) for breaking her very expensive bottle of perfume (which she kept for her marriage) to wash Jesus’s feet using her hair (see John 12:3). What Mary did was special and significant as she was unknowingly preparing Jesus for burial (for He would soon be crucified for our sins) but the point made by Jesus was nevertheless that the poor will always be there in our midst.

Be that as it may that we will not be able to abolish poverty (it is the government’s role in making structural reforms as evidenced by China’s success in alleviating millions out of poverty), we should be kind when confronted with the poor or the needy or the oppressed. That kindness could be motivated by our thankfulness to God for blessing us or it could be because of the generosity already ingrained in us due to Jesus residing in our hearts.

Whatever may be our motivation, just be kind and generous to those around us, especially the poor and disadvantaged – the widows, orphans and the foreigner, whenever we can. Ultimately our act of kindness and generosity will point to Jesus as we are His brothers and sisters in Christ in the family and kingdom of God! Anything that we may do that will give glory to God, do it without hesitation! Amen!