The current recession with its 10% unemployment rate and trillions of dollars being spent to prop up our economy have me thinking about an even greater need. As people struggle, become discouraged, and don't know where to turn, I believe we need to rise to the challenge of expressing kindness to our fellow human beings that just may be more important than dollars.

We need a revival of kindness--a trillion points worth.

Where do we find it? Kindness is something we learn best by spending time with God. God lives to bless and encourage. He is a giver at heart. He spends much of His time sprinkling the world with dewdrops of kindness in the form of the provision of food, the healing of sickness, the grace of forgiveness, the joy of relationship, the rescues from danger, calamity, sin, and despair. The Old Testament proclaims, "I have seen you in the Temple and have seen your strength and glory. Because your lovingkindness is better than life, I will praise you" (Psalm 63:2,3). The New Testament adds its agreement, "People hated us, and we hated each other. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior was shown, he saved us because of his mercy" (Titus 3:3,4).

God desires us to be kind like Him. Kindness is doing those little things that will bless and encourage someone else. Kindness is the warmth of a smile. Kindness is the comfort of a hug. It's the thoughtfulness of a gift, the uplifting of a compliment. God wants the world to see a kinder and gentler people.
 
Because being kind is doing little things for someone else, most acts of kindness don't require much money. They only need to be thoughtful, creative, and timely. In my early days with Youth With A Mission in Europe, I experienced great expressions of kindness among brothers and sisters in Christ. While studying together at a Bavarian castle in southern Germany, I watched scores of young people grow in their appreciation of the kindness of God and begin to express it in concrete ways toward one another. Sometimes it was in the form of a Scripture verse placed on a pillow. Or a surprise payment on a tuition bill. Weekly we had love feasts together  with pine cone decorations and programs of sharing and fellowship. Expressions of kindness inflated our sense of community and individual worth. Everyone was made to feel special.

With many people currently our of work, and all the brokenness and low self-esteem in the world, it's time for an explosion of kindness.
 
Another significant way to manifest kindness is in the use of good manners in relating to different groups of people. All human beings are equal in worth, but unequal in their gifts, positions, and functions in life. Good manners reveal our recognition of God-given distinctions among individuals. Let's look at three situations where good manners are called for.

First, we must show appropriate manners toward those in authority (I Peter 2:13-17). Leadership is a God-ordained function (Romans 13:1). When we do not show honor to congressmen, presidents, policemen, soldiers, and others in positions of authority, we pull down our society. Sarcasm, political cartoons, and outright disrespect shatter self-worth. I'll never forget a conversation I once had at an airport with a American soldier. When I thanked him for serving in the army to defend our freedom, his jaw dropped to the ground. Tears welled in his eyes and he said, "Thank you so much for your encouragement. No one has ever thanked me before for serving my country. I didn't think anyone cared."
 
Second, we need to be kind toward the elderly. The Bible teaches that the aged should be shown special honor (I Timothy 5:1,2). Today we often do the reverse. We make fun of our memory-failing relatives. We stick our parents and grandparents in nursing homes and convalescent centers. We glamorize youth.

I have greatly enjoyed special relationships with many elderly relatives and friends. One such friend, Mrs. Ann Malone, was 95 years old when we first met (she lived to be 103). I often went to her home to have tea, then "allowed" her to serve me her homemade apple pie. Her eyes would sparkle when I asked for a second piece. Sometimes we listened to her "talking books" together and I always asked her to tell me a story about her childhood growing up in a sod house in Nebraska. Giving her attention and respect was a small but valuable act of kindness.

Third, we must display special manners toward members of the opposite sex. The unisex revolution left millions of men and women confused. The drive for basic equal rights has been good. But the pushing of equal roles and responsibilities has broken up many homes and led to the horrible rise of lesbianism and homosexuality in the Western world. Men and women are different by creation. Women are generally superior to men in areas such as feeling, intuition, physical beauty, and social graces. Men are generally better in mental logic, physical strength, and the vision of leadership. We should celebrate these distinctions. When my wife hands me a jar that needs opening, I'm delighted to show off my strength. When I open the car door for her, she accepts it as an act of respect. Ask God to show you the special differences that He sees in people and then honor those differences with acts of kindness.

The greatest act of kindness that can be offered to a person is the gift of forgiveness. Think back to your own salvation experience when the "kindness and love of God" (Titus 3:4) was shown to you. Weights dropped off your shoulders. No moment will ever be as important to you as the moment you experience the forgiveness of sins. The greatest evidence of God's kindness toward us is that He has chosen to be forgiving toward the undeserving and unworthy. We celebrate His grace. We should pass it on to others. Paul admonished the Ephesian church: Do not be bitter or angry or mad. Never shout angrily or say things to hurt others. Never do anything evil. Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ (Ephesians 4:31).

I'll never forget the forgiveness that a friend, Steve Hulst, offered me many years ago. Shirley and I had worked all week at a large YWAM festival near Philadelphia. Our mobile office during the area-wide Jesus Rally was a small trailer that Steve had loaned us for a few days. While driving back to southern Jersey the evening after the event finished, I gasped in horror as I watched the trailer separate from the hitch through my rear view mirror. With sparks flying, it careened out of sight, did a 180-degree turn and smashed onto its side. By the time I got to it, it lay totaled on the highway. A sickening hiss rose from the smashed propane tanks that lay buried underneath it. In horror I remembered that the trailer wasn't insured. My heart pounded as I thought about telling Steve. With the help of some people who had stopped to view the accident, we miraculously flipped the trailer over on its wheels and eased it down the road to Hammonton.
 
Arriving at the YWAM center in the early hours of the morning, I crawled into bed and dreaded the arrival of daylight. I knew I would have to face Steve. I found him in his office around 9:00 a.m. and got straight to the point. "Steve," I practically whispered, "I've got something to tell you." "Steve, I'm so sorry. But last night I wrecked your trailer."  I then blurted out the painful details. I braced myself for his outcry. It seemed forever in coming.  Without blinking an eye, Steve responded, "Oh, that's okay. It's only a trailer. Are you okay?" His forgiving words seemed to lift a thousand pound weight off my back! His arm over my shoulder, we walked outside to view the wreckage. Grace had rescued my day of dread.

The more we get to know God, the more we will understand "the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:7). God is infinitely kind to His creation. His greatest act of kindness was the gift of His Son for our sins. And God wants us to be like Him. He wants us to demonstrate a trillion points of kindness by glorifying the unique differences in people that can be encouraged through simple acts, thoughtful manners, and the blessing of forgiveness.

Can you imagine what our nation would be like if millions of people began sharing a trillion acts of kindness with one another? I'd call that a revival. Many others would call it awesome and supernatural.

God calls it obedience.  We'd be imitating our Father in Heaven and blessing his children on earth.