The Quiet Power of Hidden Kindness

Are 50 Acts of Kindness in a year too many to ask for?  

The gusto with which students, staff and families got behind this initiative at the beginning of the year was genuinely inspirational. How are you going now with our Jubilee Year initiative? Can you recall an act of kindness intentionally directed your way in the last week? Did you remember to acknowledge it? Or was it anonymously given. 

Have you initiated or considered performing anonymous acts of kindness for those you know—perhaps someone, a group of people, or a family who could truly use a boost? Have such acts been the topic of the home group and/or classroom conversation? Perhaps you’ve had a mental eyeroll at this point, wondering why I’ve circled back to these in the Networks newsletter.

C.S. Lewis wrote in his famous book Mere Christianity, 

“You can do a kind action when you are not feeling kind and when it gives you no pleasure, simply because kindness is right.” 

In a world that often rewards visibility and recognition, Lewis reminds us that true kindness is not about applause—it’s about integrity. It’s about living out our faith, even when its hard and we’d rather be self-serving. It’s about reflecting the character of God into the lives of others around us, as a living testimony of His goodness to us, personally.

Scripture echoes this call to quiet generosity:

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” Matthew 6:3

“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14

This week, let me encourage us all to double down and pray for renewed energy towards initiating and practicing anonymous acts of kindness. Our card boxes with those “50 Acts” suggestions are a great inspiration. 

You can leave an encouraging note. Pay for someone you know they’d love to receive - a hot drink, an experience you’re sharing together. Offer help in their difficult circumstance, seeking no credit. Do what it is they need doing, even before they realise the need. Be personally invested in the goodness of the lives of others. 

These small, hidden gestures reflect the heart of Christ—who served without seeking for any praise or acknowledgement and loved without condition. Kindness done in secret can be a spiritual discipline. It shapes our hearts, humbles our egos, and blesses others in ways we may never see. As Lewis also wrote (in that same book), 

“Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.”

Let’s be generous with grace, even when no one is watching.

Shalom.