Act of Kindness – Week #15!!

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around!”

  Remember the song you sang growing up, “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me”? The older I got the more I realize that song was NOT true! Words are powerful and can do more than just convey information. Have you also realized that words are a unique and powerful gift from God? Humans are the only beings on the planet who God has given the ability to communicate with spoken words. What do we do with this exclusive gift from God? Our words have the power to destroy and the power to build up (Proverbs 12:6)!

  Please read the truthful lyrics to Hawk Nelson’s song, “Words”: “Words can build you up. Words can break you down. Start a fire in your heart or put it out. Let my words be life. Let my words be truth. I don't wanna say a word. Unless it points the world back to You (God)!”

  Spoken words can break us down, but they can also build us up! A verbal compliment was one of the first things that came to my mind when thinking of a new intentional act of kindness dealing with spoken words! We should not care what people think, but you have to admit that a compliment can really perk up any day...especially if your day is not going well!

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by complimenting people and be specific on why you are giving the compliment!!

  It can be difficult at first and take some courage to give a compliment when you see something that is worth complimenting. We all want our compliments to be well received and not misunderstood. I have been doing some reading on giving verbal compliments. The main thing that I have learned is to be specific about why you are giving a compliment! First tell what you have observed and then give the compliment! If people hear the motivation before they are given praise, the compliment is better received! Example- If you say, “I like your blog”. You may hear that person answer with words that basically are along the lines of “oh, it’s nothing”. It is sometimes hard for people to accept compliments so instead of saying “thank you”, they seem to want to respond to a compliment in a way that almost lowers the compliment. Let us be specific with why we are giving a compliment first and then second to verbalize the compliment…“Your blog encourages and uplifts me. I like your blog”.

*My experience with the act of kindness… I am not going to share my experiences specifically in case those wonderful people that I have complimented are reading this! I was intentional about complimenting people I know and also a couple strangers! I also concentrated on not only complimenting looks but also personalities, attitudes and decisions. In almost every case, people took the compliment with a big smile on their face and a “thank you”.

  Recently I got a new curling iron and have had several compliments on my hair! A special “thank you” to all of you who gave me those compliments! And what do you know…I learned something else important this week while giving and receiving this act of kindness! What I learned was that compliments my looks (hair, clothes etc) was only for that day (and maybe only a couple hours since the curls started falling). Someone else close to me recently complimented me on my work ethic and a different person complimented me on my walk with the Lord! The compliments that were focused on my personality, the way I am living my life and my decisions/choices in life have stayed with me every day since and have contained way more encouragement than a compliment about my hair looking nicely curled!

  Have you ever noticed something nice on someone or appreciated their attitude or how they dealt with something and just let the moment pass by without saying a word? I am encouraging you to verbally speak your compliments to others and not let them just cross through your mind!!

   Let us be intentionally to not be quick to criticize and lousy to compliment!!

p.s. Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!