Today we will talk about kindness.

Kindness as defined in the dictionary is the quality or state of being gentle and considerate. In the Bible, we can define kindness as seeking the interest of others; it is to make other people happy and make them see that God is good to them.

But man is naturally unkind. We are selfish by nature which is already evident in childhood. Selfishness is often the cause of quarrels among children. That is why it is very critical that the teaching of kindness to children begins early.

Here are four ways on how we can sow the seed of kindness in the hearts of our children

1. Selfish in our child should be dealt with immediately.  The reason why selfishness grows in the heart of children is because it is not dealt with seriously and immediately.

For instance, look at this scenario:

Junjun: “Kuya  may I have some French fries”

Jonjie: “Oh No, this is mine,”

Jun jun started to cry and rushed to Mommy.  Instead of dealing with the selfishness of Jonjie, Mommy tried to appease Junjun by giving him other food to eat.  She should have reprimanded or even punished  the  selfish behavior of her older son. 

2. In telling Bible stories we can emphasize the kindness and selfless acts of Bible characters like David, the Shunamite woman, the Good Samaritan, and most of all, the self-sacrificing love of Jesus. It is important that we draw lessons from stories, not just reading it to them.

3. We can teach kindness to our children by asking them to do acts of kindness. We can tell them to help “Lola” when she is carrying a heavy basket, or offer the slipper of Tatay when he comes home from work. It has become automatic for my friend’s children to give water to visitors because they were told to do so before.

4. Through our example, our little acts of kindness will grow big in the hearts of our children. Visiting the sick, giving food to neighbors, offering a drink to a tired LBC courier, giving food or toys or clothes  to poor children  are all lessons of kindness clearly impressed on the heart.

Here are some practical ways I can think of so far. Teaching our children to seek the interest of others is very difficult to do, but we can do it by the grace of God.