Always show kindness

INTRO: When I was growing up, I spent a great portion of my life living with my grandparents. During one of the times we stayed at their house, they had two empty mason jars sitting on the counter. One had a frowning face sharpied onto it and the other had a happy face. I asked my grandmom what they were for and she just replied with the amazing answer of; “you’ll see.” Every time my brother or I were mean to each other that week, she would put a macaroni noodle in the frowny-face jar, and then whenever we were nice to each other or showed kindness to one another. They would fill up the smiley-faced jar in the same way. At the end of the week, if the smiley face jar was more full, then we were given a reward. When we show kindness to others, we are in turn glorifying God. Ruth is an excellent example of kindness to us. We read in verses 11 and 12 of her kindness to her mother-in-law. In verse 13 we read of Ruth’s desire to find favor in Boaz’s sight and in verses 14-18 we read of how Boaz returns her kindness by showing kindness back.

THESIS: Showing kindness can end with great rewards. TEXT: Ruth 2:8-18

Ruth 2:8-12 Ruth’s kindness to her mother-in-law

Boaz knows of Ruth’s actions and commends her for them He recounts how she leaves her family and country to assist her mother-in-law Boaz wishes the Lord to bless her for what she has done We need to be like Ruth in these two verses and always show kindness to our family Our family is what builds us, showing kindness to those we love will in almost every case be worth it.

Ruth 2:13 Ruth’s desire to show to find favor in Boaz’s sight

Ruth desires to show favor in Boaz’s sight since he had helped her Just like ruth, we need to seek favor in other people’s sights and the way we can do that is by always trying to be the best and most positive person we can be. Aspire to be the best person you know, only better. Being a people pleaser should be a priority, there is no reason why we should go thru life wanting people to dislike us.

When we are kind and approachable, it makes it much easier for us to evangelize 14-18 Boaz’s kindness to Ruth

Boaz recognizes her desire to find favor in his sight He lets her take what she wants/needs from his fields as a way to repay her of her kindness toward him Don't expect a reward when you show kindness, that is not the right motive. We arent nice to others so we can be rewarded here on earth, but because it is right in God’s Eyes. We need to recognize when others are trying to be kind to us and we need to “reward” them for that fact

CONCLUSION: Being kind and rewarding others for their kindness is an important aspect in our lives as God-fearing Christians. As we read in verses 11 and 12, Ruth’s showed kindness to her mother-in-law. In verse 13 we read of her desire to find favor in Boaz’s sight and in verses 14-18 we read of how Boaz returns her kindness by showing kindness back. A little bit of kindness can go a very long way in this world, so as we go through our days, lets try to show a little bit more kindness than we did the day before. Both Boaz and Ruth show great qualities in kindness. Are we showing kindness as Ruth did? Are we returning kindness with more kindness just as Boaz? If not then that is something we need to change. Let’s start today.