Always Kind

By Gabriela Schwenker, age 14 and Marjorie Foerster Eddington

Question

How or why should you be kind to someone you really don't like?

Answer

It is hard to be nice to everyone, especially to people you can't stand. Though our mothers and fathers have always told us to "be nice to them," we don't always do it. When I really can't stand someone, it's not easy to keep my emotions in as I should. No wonder wars happen when there's hatred between people or between countries.

Sometimes we don't know why we dislike or hate someone else. Though we think we have reasons, we often just believe what other people have said about them, or we are coming up with some lame reasons. You have probably heard the saying, "Don't hate, appreciate." It is completely true. Most of us don't appreciate those people who surround us every day. And sometimes we even think it is easier to hate someone than to have to get to know that person. But if everyone tried to figure out reasons to appreciate one another and was kind to each other, there would be no more fist fights in school, and conceivably no more wars.

Jesus, the Son of God, tells us, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). He said this so every one would respect each other and not hate. Paul, who followed Jesus, wrote, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love" (Rom 12:10). To love the people around you will make the world better.

Kindness makes the people in the world smile. To see someone being kind to a stranger always makes me smile and feel happy inside. We have the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as we would have them do unto us." The Golden Rule is pretty much a law, and if you follow it, only good can come out of it. We read in the Bible, "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" (Rom 13:8). If you look for the good, you find good. If you find some bad, it's only because you are looking mostly for the bad.

Kindness is probably one of the most important qualities a person should have. Kindness has made the world stronger. If we continue to spread the kindness, we will be able to stop hatred and help those in need. When we spread love, we see and experience the good that blesses us and the billions of people we don't know.

Gabriela Schwenker, age 14

Editor's Note:
So when it's really tough to be kind to people, we can remember that they're God's children, too. They may not be acting like God's children. They may be doing hateful things. But we have the ability to separate the action from the person. We can condemn the act but love the person God made. Why do we have to be kind? Because that's the command Jesus gave us. Loving others is the way we fulfill God's law. We want to be law-abiding. So, we can do everything Gabriela said and discover that kindness truly does heal hatred and change the world.

MFE