In the year 2000, a movie came out by the name of “Pay It Forward”.  A young boy is given a fascinating assignment by his social studies teacher.  The assignment was “to think of something to change the world and put it into action.”  The student, Trevor, comes up with the idea of paying a favor forward, not back—in other words, help someone in need without expecting or wanting payback; in fact, tell them they CAN NOT pay you back, but they can repay your good deeds by doing new good deeds to three new people.  Trevor attempted to make the world a better place.  Initially, it seemed like the project was a failure, but by the end of the movie, we are shown that it was a completely successful movement.  If you have not seen this movie, you really should watch it.  It will really touch your heart.

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A lot of people think they are unable to make a difference.  But that is not true!  We hear stories all the time of how people pay it forward at fast-food restaurants.  Have you ever been given something or had someone do something for you that was much needed and very unexpected?  Have YOU ever given something of yourself to someone in need?  So many times we want to give money to those that need help.  We seem to think helping must come in the form of cash.  But is that really true? No, money is definitely NOT the only way we can help.  We can give of our time or do other things to help people.  We can visit the sick or those in nursing homes.  We can run errands for someone who is not able to do so.  We can do something as simple as offering our umbrella to someone who does not have one on a rainy day, or opening the door for someone in a wheelchair, or helping an elderly woman with her groceries.

 

Did you know that there is a story that is the opposite of paying it forward in the Bible?  It is really about forgiveness, but Matthew 18:21-35 tells a story about a king who decided to settle his servants accounts. One particular servant owed the king 10,000 talents.  The servant could not pay so the king ordered that his wife, children and everything the man owned be sold to pay off his debt.  The man begged the king and promised to pay back all he owed.  The king had pity on the servant, cancelled his debt, and let him go.  But when the servant left, he came across a man that owed him money (only a fraction of what the servant had owed the king), and he proceeded to choke this man, demanding he pay him back all that he owed.  The man asked the servant to be patient and that he would get him his money, but instead the servant had the man thrown in prison.  The king found out what the servant had done, and called him in.  The king reinstated the servant’s debt and had him put in jail and tortured.  The servant certainly did NOT pay it forward.  He had been shown mercy, and in turn, he should have paid it forward by showing the same mercy to his debtor.

 

This happened in Bible times, but this is also how people act today in our time.  It seems that kindness is something we definitely do not see a lot of these days.  Instead of helping someone they see in need, people would rather take their cameras out and video it and laugh at the person in distress. 

 

The payitforwardday.com website says this about kindness: “One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else, then the cycle of generosity and kindness can spark us to become better people.” This is very true.  Doing random acts of kindness is a cycle, a cycle of kindness that, the more it is done, the easier it will be to do, and we will become better people because of it.

 

The payitforwardday.com website also says this about the benefits of paying it forward:

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There are numerous benefits attached to paying random acts of kindness forward and helping someone else in need.                  Specifically:

•  Doing good for others can have a powerful, positive effect on the immune system.

• By contributing towards the greater good, self-worth and self-esteem improves.

• It can prevent people from becoming isolated, encouraging them to meet new people and step outside of their comfort zones

• Chronic negativity can be dismantled in the mind as positive energy flows from giving to others. Studies have revealed that kindness helps relieve stress, which is a huge problem in many workplaces.

 

Every person on earth can make a difference by simply showing love and kindness to the people around them, or to whoever crosses their path.  Why don’t you try it today? I bet it will put a smile on someone’s face, maybe even your own.