By Brent Nussbaum, CEO
As I searched out the meaning of benevolence, the words kindness, compassion, thoughtfulness, and charity came to me.
I had always thought of benevolence as giving something physical or tangible to others. However, as I discovered, it can also be sharing a kind word, letting someone else know that you’re thinking of them, offering compassion in an unfortunate circumstance, or giving of your abundance to help others.
An example of benevolence caught my attention.
I had heard that a driver’s home in Tennessee was flooded recently during a rainstorm. I called him to share my condolences and ask if there was anything we could do to help. He shared that he and his wife and their daughter had lost everything in the homes they were renting, but they weren’t despondent about it.
They had discovered that many others in their area had lost much more than they did and, as a result, decided to donate money given to them by FEMA to help others devastated by the flooding. It was a huge act of kindness and unselfishness. I finished our call humbled, very impressed that this man and his family had put others’ needs above their own.
As we consider how benevolence can impact our lives, consider what happens when we give of ourselves and our abundance. Sharing with others sets an example in motion that causes that act of giving to continue.
How can each of us make someone else’s life better today by giving to others?
