365 Random Acts of Kindness

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  Matthew 7:21

Sobering thought, isn’t it?

So, what is God’s will?  Well, honestly that would make a terrific Bible study.  There are lots of hints in scripture, “thou shalt not kill,” “thou shalt not steal,” “honor your father and your mother,” “ to “do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God?”  To not just bless people and tell them we will pray for them, but to give them what they need, when it is within our power to do so.  The following set of cards would make a terrific Bible Study.

 

 

It has been on my heart for some time to create this little set of cards, as a way to get in the habit of “hearing God’s word, and doing it“  every day!  I had pictured in my mind a nice laminated set of cards, placed in a nice, sturdy, decorated recipe box or basket in the center of my kitchen table.

Each card would feature a daily scripture and a suggested daily random act of kindness. 

Each morning, as I sipped my coffee, I could draw out one of these cards, read the scripture, then flip it over for a suggestion on how to be a doer of God’s word that day.

At the end of the day I could thank God for giving me seeds to sow, and also pray for the people touched by His love.

In the process I would become a pretty good expert on God’s will, and also hopefully have some fruit to show for this wonderful redeemed life He has blessed me with.

Creating this set of cards was such a huge project, it seems a waste to keep it all to myself.  Me thinks there is possibly someone else out there in cyberland who would LOVE to have a set of them, someone who might want to do this little project with me, or with family, or youth group, or a women’s group.  Or maybe print a set to give away to someone as a gift – like a teenager, who is going off to college?

At the bottom of this post I have provided you with the links to download my pdf files of the cards I created.

There is one file for the front design of the cards, and another file for the back side of the cards.  First you’ll want to print one side and then the other on 8.5 X 11″ sheets of light card stock, then cut them apart.  If you have a laminator you can laminate them to make them more durable and waterproof.

Or, if you’d like a nicer quality set you can save the files and take them to your local print shop and have them print the cards for you on a nice card stock.  There are 91 pages in the file (file size is 185.5 KB), and so whatever your print shop charges for full color copies (Staples charges about .47 for color 8.5X11), multiply that times two for 2 sided color copies.

If color printing is too expensive, you can print them in black and white and they will turn out just fine.  Or maybe your employer would let you print them at work if you bring your own paper or card stock???

If you want to skip making the cards, here are some ideas for random acts that you can print out and keep in your Bible:

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RANDOM ACTS AT WORK:

Be generous with praise. Thank others often. Pitch in and help when a coworker is overwhelmed (sometimes because of the death of a loved one, or recovery from an illness or accident, etc., or just learning the job).  Leave a small gift (book, music CD, pretty pen, Starbucks gift card, etc.) in their mailbox, just because. Surprise someone with flowers, or balloons, whom you notice never receives such things.

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:4

RANDOM ACTS AT CHURCH:

Offer to clean an elderly member’s home. Take an elderly member to a doctor appointment. Take a casserole dinner to a new mom and help her fold clothes. Offer babysitting to a young couple for a date night. Rake leaves or shovel snow for a shut-in, or someone recovering from surgery.  Buy groceries for the pastor/wife. Pick up a friend and take them to church with you. Take a new member to breakfast or lunch.

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Galatians 6:10 ESV

RANDOM ACTS IN THE COMMUNITY:

Here is an awesome and really fun sounding idea to do with our small groups (church cell groups) that a friend posted on Facebook:

“Oh my goodness! What fun and what a blessing. My church has a number of small groups that meet once a week for more intimate fellowship, Bible study and  service to our community. We are doing a weekly service in our town called “Acts of Random Kindness.” We arrive with a list of acts of kindness we will do, in an hour, as we break up in smaller teams and compete with each other to accomplish the acts and make it back to our host house ahead of other teams. We ran off and paid for people’s groceries, went to gas stations and paid for gas for people and cleaned their windshields, gave flowers to unsuspecting random recipients, gave tips to waitresses without receiving their service, filled washers and dryers with quarters for people at public laundry mats, sang to fast food counter servers and retail sales persons, dropped gift baskets at random houses, read an encouraging poem to a person we came across, and many other acts that let people know they are special and that we care. The way people responded to us was so touching. I didn’t want the giving to stop. I told our leader that it reminded me of when I was a teen and we would do Chinese fire drills. Our adrenaline ran wild. As teams, we ran to each service, all participated, and then we ran back to the car laughing and feeling great about the lives we touched. I could do this every day! I received more than I gave. I think that was the lesson to each of us participating. It is such a joy to give. And…to give randomly, to whoever we see in front of us at the time. I encourage everyone to open your eyes to people you can show kindness to whether you think they deserve it or not.”

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13

RANDOM ACTS AT HOME:

Leave a little note of encouragement in children’s lunchboxes or backpacks.  Leave a sweet note on the mirror for spouse. Send a love text or prayer of encouragement to spouse during the day. Warm up and scrape the ice off of spouse’s vehicle – or turn on the  A/C so the car is cool before they go to work.  Surprise spouse with a little gift in their car, or on their side of the bed, or sitting next to their favorite chair in the living room (a new book, a new pair of pajamas, new socks, new gloves, movie tickets, new tool, lotion, candybar, flowers, etc.), just because.

“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8

RANDOM ACTS FOR FRIENDS:

Send a card. Invite to lunch. Leave a small gift (potted plant, bottle of wine, bag of groceries, magazine/newspaper/book, a pretty wreath for their door, etc.) on the doorstep. Invite them to a pedicure. Make a mammogram appointment together and go pick her up. Invite to go shopping (clothes, antiques, farmer’s market, etc.). Invite to a play or movie.

“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” 1 John 3:17-18

RANDOM ACTS FOR NEIGHBORS:

Shovel their sidewalks while they are at work. Pull their weeds.  Leave a potted plant on their doorstep. Invite them for supper. Visit with them over the fence.  Help them wash their car, work on their car, repair a fence, etc. if you see them out doing that. Mow their yard while they are at work. Make a pretty wreath for their door.

“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27

 

FREE PRINTABLE>>>>>Click Here for the RA365 cards front design

(This is one page of the front side design.  91 copies of this one page will be needed for one set of cards, or 92 copies if printing the extra page of blank cards).

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FREE PRINTABLE>>>>Click Here for Random Acts one page of blank cards

(This is one page of blank cards, for writing down your own suggestions, or replacing cards in my set that don’t seem relevant to you).

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FREE PRINTABLE >>>>Click Here for Random Acts 365 Cards FULL SET – 91 pages

(This is the whole set of cards.  It is 91 pages in length, 4 cards per page)

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Bless you my friend.  And let us not grow weary in doing good, for we shall reap a harvest if we do not give up!

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“Then the righteous will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?  And when did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You?  And when did we see You ailing or in prison, and came to You?’  “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Matthew 25:37-40