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Random violence irritated a schoolteacher so much that he decided to do something about it. He created a bumper sticker that read, “Today, I will commit one random act of senseless kindness.” It caught on. Pulpits, schools, and professional associations promoted it — even police cars carried it. People began to show kindness in unexpected ways. That is just one practical way to live out what the Apostle Paul urged Christians to do. He had described and urged God’s people to use their spiritual gifts to help others. But he realized that exercising our gifts in a mechanical or selfish way would not be an expression of love. Genuine love is that selfless concern for the welfare of others. It does not depend on the worth of the person on whom we bestow it. It is the product of a will to love in obedience to God’s command. It is similar to the love Christ manifested on the cross. Paul describes that kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13 where he says, “Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous, or boastful, or proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” Hmm, maybe you will consider starting a revolution of love in your community.
