The Effects of Our Actions: What if We Really Loved Others the Way God Loves Us?

I was out running errands recently. As I sat in my car at Target waiting for my order to be brought to me, I couldn’t help but notice a little girl and her daddy. He reached down to quickly put her on his shoulders before confidently crossing the parking lot to their car. He held onto her little ankles while she kept her arms around his neck.

He didn’t appear to be talking to her as they made their way past all the cars, and he certainly could not see her face. But I could.

That little girl, who was around 2-3 years old, had the biggest smile on her face. It was more than that though. Her face glowed with joy. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in her expression even though her daddy was barely holding onto her ankles while she was high enough to see everything around her.

I don’t know them. I have no idea what their life is like. After all, I only saw a miniscule slice of it.

But I did see how his actions affected her. I did see how his one small gesture brought her joy. And it would have been impossible not to recognize the jolt of confidence he gave her by simply giving her a ride on his shoulders.

It wasn’t long before my Target bags were tucked safely in my car, so I made my way to my next errand. As I drove through the next parking lot, I stopped to let a young family pass.

From my point of view, I could tell the parents had shopping bags and were struggling a bit to get their young son, who was probably a little younger than 2 years of age, to walk at their pace. The wise momma made the decision to pick the child up, allowing them to pass in front of my car safely.

Then the little boy dropped something. It looked like a large brush, the kind you might use to scrub your shower. It was obviously something they had just purchased, something they had allowed him to play with.

I don’t know why that child dropped that brush. At that age, it’s just something they do. Maybe they’re curious about who will pick it up. Maybe they get tired of holding items that are heavy. Whatever his reason was, he dropped that brush in the middle of the road in front of my car.

His daddy turned around so fast with a very irritated look on his face. Even though my windows were up and my radio was on, I didn’t need to hear his voice to know his words that were directed to his young son were not nice. His anger was written all over his face as he spewed out those few words before turning his back on his son and wife.

They kept walking: the dad in front, now carrying the brush that his son had dropped, the momma a few steps behind, still carrying their child.

The parents were both looking toward the cars in the parking lot, but their little boy glanced back. He gave me a clear view of his face even though he hadn’t noticed me.

I kept waiting for him to cry. It bothered me that he didn’t. He looked more resigned than anything else. Even though he didn’t cry, he wasn’t happy. He just had a sad, confused look on his face that made me sad too.

They made their way to their car, so I was able to drive on.

As I made my way to the grocery store to wrap up my errands for the day, I couldn’t get those two families out of my mind.

Children are little sponges. They so often absorb things that we don’t even know we’re exposing them to.

I’m sure that little girl at Target has had times of sadness just like I’m sure the young boy has experienced joy.

But every single action on our part, whether good or bad, becomes part of the inner voice of others, especially the youngest among us.

I wonder what it would be like if we all made an effort to only share kind words and kind actions and kind looks with others.

If we all had an inner voice that spoke to us of our value, maybe then we could keep the cycle of kindness going.

The Bible has a lot to say about love. The bottom line is that “God is love.” We read this in 1 John 4:16. This tells me all I need to know about how I should treat others.

The little girl at Target was more likely to be kind to others that day because of the kindness shown to her.

Unfortunately, the same is true for that little boy. He might have lashed out at someone else as a result of how his daddy reacted to him. I hope not.

God has shown me nothing but love, kindness, grace, and mercy.

Who am I not to pass it along to others?