25 Simple Acts of Christmas Kindness

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed the other day when a headline along the side caught my eye: "Does growing up in a religious family make you MEAN? Christian and Muslim children found to be less altruistic than the offspring of atheists." Immediately, my heart sank. Less altruistic? More likely to deal out harsh punishments for minor infractions? That was the message I got as I read the study detailed in the news story. It was disheartening, to say the least. 

And I wondered: As a mom, how do I teach my children a better way? How do regular people like you and I show our kids that kindness matters? 

A few years ago, Julie, Kendra and I met with those same questions on our hearts. At the time, we all had young children, and were trying to figure out how to balance the giving and getting parts of Christmas. How could we refocus on others during the Christmas season, rather than focusing on an ever-expanding Christmas List for Santa?

We decided to try out a new idea, one we called our Advent Acts of Kindness, by celebrating Advent (for us, a modified version of 24 days starting December 1, plus our Christmas Finale) with a daily kind act -- most of which included our children’s direct participation. We rotated between community acts (quarters in the laundry mat, cookies for the police department), national acts (Red Cross Mail for Heroes, Toys for Tots), and international acts of kindness (World Vision, International Justice Mission, Heifer International). 

Our inspiration was found in Mark 12:28-31:

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

As our children helped us deliver items and write cards, we found ourselves talking about kindness, talking about Christ, about what it means to sacrifice for others. Each morning, my children looked forward to whatever I had planned for the day, or brainstormed ideas of their own. And you know what? We were talking about important ideas, but mostly we were having fun. Kindness can be fun. Loving others is a reward of its own.

This year, we'll be celebrating our Fourth Annual Advent Acts of Kindness this Christmas season, and we invite you to join us we celebrate Advent in a way that serves Christ and others in a tangible, physical way.
 

Don't forget to print off our cute cards! :)

Need ideas? Here are some links:

•  Here is our free printable (you can print in either color or black-and-white, your choice) to go along with your Advent Acts! 
•  Here's what we've done in past years: Check out our recap posts (pictures and everything!) from our first year, second year, and third year.

We are SO EXCITED to do this again this year, and we'd love to partner with you in doing so.

Each year has been a new adventure, but this year, we're trying something new.

We're creating a 25 Days of Kindness group in Facebook. We'll be sharing ideas every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday throughout December, hosting Facebook lives and offering giveaways! 

It'll be a positive place to share some Christmas cheer and we'd love for you to join us! 

Click here to request to join the group.  We'll also occasionally post on our social media platforms (Facebook or Instagram).

Are you looking for more resources? Have you checked out our books?

We've written two kindness devotionals, The One Year Daily Acts of Kindness and 100 Days of Kindness. They tell the story of how our families embarked on a one-year journey of kindness, and include our successes, failures, and the encouragement you need as a family to incorporate kindness into your own life.

Our newest book, One Good Word a Day, offers simple but deeply spiritual meditations that will help readers linger on one word each day so they can identify and reflect on how Jesus as the Word influences their daily lives. 

 

Looking for encouragement in your friendships? Our adult friendship devotional, The One Year Daily Acts of Friendship, includes a daily scripture, story, and friendship prompt. It's encouraging and slightly challenging (in a good way!) in helping you find, keep, and love your friends.  

 

Our devotional for tweens is a great complement to our devotional for women! 100 Daily Acts of Friendship for Girls is written specifically for girls ages 8-12 as they navigate friendships in upper elementary and middle school. With a scripture, short story, reflection questions and 50 fun activities to do with you or friends, it's a wonderful way to encourage your daughter, niece, granddaughter, God daughter and her friends to build healthy friendships from an early age.

We would love to walk alongside you in encouragement, inspiration, and community. You can follow us on Facebook and Instagram as The Ruth Experience or sign up for our monthly newsletter (no spam, ever), here.

If you already have one of our books and love them, we'd so appreciate it if you leave a review on Amazon. 

We're in this together,

Kristin, Julie, and Kendra