God expects us to be kind without conditions. To love our neighbors and our enemies. To treat others with kindness even when they don’t return the favor. To show unreciprocated kindness with our only motivation being to glorify God.
It would be great if our kindness was returned, but sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s rudely overlooked or worse, repaid with selfishness and cruelty. We can start to wonder why even bother. To develop an “I’ll show you” attitude and stoop to their level. This happened to King David. His unreciprocated kindness was rudely overlooked and his initial response was to get even.
When David and his companions were being hunted by King Saul, they befriended some shepherds that worked for a rich man. David and his men showed kindness to them and protected them while they tended sheep. When they were in need of some assistance of their own, they reached out to the rich man, Nabal, to see if he would return the favor. Nabal basically told them: “What’s your kindness to me? I couldn’t care less.” (You can read all about it in 1 Samuel.)
David could not believe that after all the kindness they had shown this man was not going to return the favor.
“It’s been useless – all my watching over this fellow’s property in the desert so that nothing of his was missing. He has paid me back evil for good.” – 1 Samuel 25:21
David was angry and he planned to get even. Had it not been for God’s intervention through the rich man’s wife, he would’ve killed Nabal out of spite.
I can relate. I can hear myself lamenting along with David, “Why do I even bother being kind when I get nothing in return?” But this is a self-centered response. Our kindness to others has nothing to do with us. It’s about obeying God and glorifying Him.
As a Christian, showing love and kindness is never useless! This is the way God wants us to treat people. The same way Jesus treated people. And not just people that will return the favor, but even and especially those that won’t.
When we’ve been mistreated, God will be the one to right the scales. As difficult as it may be, we must ask Him to fill us with His love so that we can love even the unlovable. We may not see the rewards for our unreciprocated kindness to others until we stand before Jesus and hear Him say, “Well done good and faithful servant”. But that will make it all worthwhile!
“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” – Luke 6:35
