¶ Welcome to Starting Right
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right . I am Danny Mac and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day . So grab your cup of coffee , sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting
¶ Biblical Foundation for Kindness
right . In Paul's letter to the Ephesians , in the fourth chapter and 32nd verse , he said Be kind to each other , tenderhearted , forgiving one another , just as God , through Christ , has forgiven you . Today , I want to focus just on the first part of that verse be kind to each other . And to do that , I want to share this story with you .
¶ The Young Salesman's Story
There was once a young man who had taken a job going door to door to sell brushes with the hope of making some money to pay for his college education .
For the last three weeks , he had spent almost 10 hours every day trudging from house to house throughout the town , knocking on doors , only to be rejected , often with some very harsh and nasty words and a very loud door slam . He had not even made one sale .
Well , on this last day of the third week , the summer heat was very intense , exhausting both his physical strength as well as his will to continue . He was tired and hungry , with only one dime left in his pocket . He approached the end house on the street where he decided that he would ask for a meal .
However , when I Love a Young Woman answered the door and greeted him kindly with a smile , he became flustered and instead of asking for the meal , he asked for a glass of water . She smiled at him again and as she turned away from the door , she thought he looked rather hungry . So she brought him a very large glass of cold milk .
He sat on the step and drank it slowly and then asked how much do I owe you ? You don't owe me anything , she replied sweetly . My mother taught us never to accept pay for kindness . He looked down at the empty glass and then back up at the young woman and said then I thank you from all of my heart .
As Howard Kelly left that house , he not only felt stronger physically , but his faith in God and man was also stronger . He once again felt hopeful , believing that something good was going to come his way .
¶ Kindness Returns Years Later
Many years later , that same woman became critically ill . The local doctors were completely baffled and they finally sent her to the big city where they called in a specialist to study her rare disease . Dr Howard Kelly was called in for a consultation . When he heard the name of the town she came from , a strange light filled his eyes .
Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room and , dressed in his doctor's gown , he went in to see her . He recognized her immediately . He went back to the consultation room , determined to do his best to save her life , and from that day on he gave special attention to her case . After a long struggle , the battle was won .
Dr Kelly requested that the business office pass the final bill to him for approval . He looked at it then wrote something on the edge of the bill , and the bill was sent to her room . The woman held the folded bill in her hand , afraid to open it up . She was sure it was going to take the rest of her life to pay for it all .
Finally she looked and something caught her attention . On the side of the bill she read the words paid in full with one glass of milk signed Dr Howard Kelly . With one glass of milk Signed Dr Howard Kelly . God's Word tells us to be kind to one another , but there's even more than that Over in Proverbs 19 , verse 17, .
It says If you help the poor , you are lending to the Lord and he will repay you . You see , when we reach out with love and care to people who are in need , we're not giving to them , we're giving to God , and the basic principle of Scripture is that when we give to God , he will always pour back into
¶ Today's Challenge to Be Kind
our lives . Can I encourage you today to be kind to someone that you have never been kind to before . Help them in some way , do something for them , even speak to them words of encouragement , or maybe slip them $10 or $20 to help them out .
Be kind to someone , because when you give to the poor or give to the needy , we are not giving to them , we are giving to God , and God will now work with that money in their lives , but he will also use that to become a blessing in our lives . I hope you have a great day , everybody .
Be kind to someone , let God's love shine through you and we will talk again tomorrow . Thank you for joining us today , and I invite you to join us every Monday to Friday , right here at Starting Right , with Danny Mac .