While we should remember to consider others year-round, it can be especially helpful to remember around the holidays. We can get a little too wrapped up in what we need to do for ourselves and our loved ones, and we forget that other people are people, too. The strangers around us have just as much to worry about as we do, sometimes more.
Sometimes it feels like kindness and consideration for others is waning in the world. On the one hand that means we have a harder time getting along. On the other hand that means it stands out more when someone is kind and considerate. Either way, it is good and godly for us to be kind and considerate to each other. After all, hasn’t God Himself been kind and considerate to us? He created everything we perceive and enjoy, and had our enjoyment in mind. He didn’t just give us what we need to survive, He gave us enough to thrive. He made Himself reachable through Jesus. He makes Himself findable to those who seek Him and to those who don’t. He extends mercy and grace to anyone who will have it. He allows us plenty of time to turn to Him from our sins and get right with Him.
As we go about our lives, both in and out of holiday seasons, let’s make it a point to consider others and be kind to them. That’s part of what we Christians should do to display God’s love and kindness. Let someone else go before you in line. Help someone carry things to their car. Buy someone lunch. Help out a homeless person. Tip the waiter or waitress really well. Smile at and be pleasant to the cashier. Do some volunteering. Greet your neighbor across the fence. Smile at people. All this will make people wonder what’s up with you, and then you can talk with them about Jesus and His love.