Welcome to this daily encouragement from our daily bread.

I'm James Banks, and I titled our meditation today, Unmeasured kindness.

Two friends were shopping for a laptop in an electronic store when they ran into basketball great

Shaquille O'Neal. Aware that O'Neill recently suffered the loss of his sister and a former

teammate, they empathetically offered their condolences. After the two men returned to their shopping,

Shaq approached them and told them to pick out the nicest laptop

they could find. He then bought it for them simply because they saw him as a person going

through a difficult time and was moved by their kindness. Millennia before that encounter,

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11, those who are kind benefit themselves.

When we consider others' needs and do what we can to help and encourage them, we're rewarded

ourselves. It may not be with a laptop or material things, but God has ways of blessing us that

this world can't measure. As Solomon explained just one verse earlier in the same chapter,

a kind-hearted woman gains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth.

There are gifts from God that are worth far more than money,

and he measures them generously in his perfect wisdom and way.

Kindness and generosity are part of God's character,

and he loves to see them expressed in our own hearts and lives.

Solomon summed up the matter well.

Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Proverbs 11, verses 16 to 25.

A kind-hearted woman gains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth. Those who are kind

kind benefit themselves, but the cruel bring ruin on themselves.

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