Liberty Mutual’s most recent television commercial shows one person doing a kind act for another person while someone else is watching and then the person who was watching later does a good act, and so it goes. What is striking about the commercial is that the person who does the act of kindness does not know that they have been seen, nor do they ever know that their act inspired someone else to do the same. The lesson is a powerful one and provides us with an example of how the works of kindness and consideration that we do can turn into something quite powerful and like the commercial, become a chain of good actions. As we work in our jobs, how often do we think about doing that extra act of consideration that others would see as the role modeling of how they are supposed to also be behaving? Jesus told us that there were two commandments that stood above all others, when He said that we are to love the Lord God with all our heart, and also to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Pastor of my church made the point this last weekend that as followers of Jesus, we don’t get to choose between the two. There is no “or”, it is “and”. So, this means that we have to love and treat our neighbors as we love our ourselves and this extends to our co-workers. Today, think about the actions that you will undertake and how those actions either live up to the commandment or doesn’t. Our ability to do an act of kindness or provide an unexpected act of consideration, may well be rooted in where our heart is and our relationship with the Lord. Today, start with an action of helping someone else and do so from your heart.

Reference: Mark 12: 29-31 (New Living Testament)