SHINE ANYWAY

To be honest, I wasn’t happy to be making another trip to the shop. For the previous four weeks, I had been trying to get a refund for a broken smartphone. As I spoke with the manager—again—it seemed that we were heading down another dead end road. As we talked, I wondered if we would
ever get our money back, but I tried to be kind.

At one point the manager said, “By now, customers are usually yelling at me, but you’ve been so patient.” Then he said, “Let’s try something else.” He asked me some questions and punched some numbers into his tablet. After a short delay—and some stories about angry customers—he printed
out a receipt showing a refund! “Thanks for being so good to work with,” he said as we parted ways.

While I think being nice when I didn’t feel nice helped, getting refunds is not why we should show kindness to others. The real reason is that as Christians we are to show the light and love of Jesus (EPHESIANS 5:8) to everyone—whether it’s a grumpy neighbour, an annoying kid at school or a
strict teacher. Our speech and behaviour are to be a positive example (EPHESIANS 4:29-32; COLOSSIANS 4:6). Are you struggling with someone at the moment? Let Jesus’ light shine through.

Thinking it over . . .

What is your natural reaction to people who annoy you or disagree with you? What might it look like if your aim wasn’t to win arguments, but show love?

PEOPLE ARE ATTRACTED TO JESUS WHEN YOU
SHOW HIS KINDNESS IN YOUR LIFE.

YouTh Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries