The story of the Good Samaritan is found in Luke 10:30-37.

The Good Samaritan shows us that kindness begins with how you see things. Kindness starts with the eyes, and it has a lot to do with our sensitivity to the needs of other people.

If you’re not aware of needs, how can you possibly care about them?

The Bible says when the Samaritan saw the condition of the man who had been beaten and robbed, his heart went out to him. He felt compassion for him. He took pity on him. Seeing the need is where kindness has to start.

There are wounded people all over the world. There are hurting people all around us. But it is so easy to overlook those needs if we are not careful.

Have you ever wondered why so often we don’t see the needs of the people around us? I think it can be summed up in one word — busyness. Hurry is the death of kindness.

If you want to increase your kindness, you must decrease your pace. If you’re going to learn to show more kindness, you’re probably going to have to slow down. When you’re always so busy, and in a hurry, and distracted with other things, there’s no time to be kind. You’ve got to slow your life down to see the needs of the people around you. Because the faster you go, the less you see.

Imagine you are taking a trip from New York to Los Angeles.

Will you see more and experience more if that trip is by plane, in the car or on foot? We all know that you will see a lot more when you slow down your pace. The slower you go, the more you see.

Ask God to intensify your spiritual radar.

Be on the lookout for people who are hurting or in need. Be aware of those who need help. Watch for opportunities to offer a little encouragement. You may cross paths with someone who needs to be shown a little loving concern this very day.

Some people are naturally born with this type of sensitivity. They automatically sense when someone is in need.

Many of us have to work at it a little harder than that. Our tendency is to be task-oriented, which makes it easy to be insensitive to the needs around us.

When interruptions come, let’s try to see them as opportunities to grow in kindness and to be more loving.

You can read Steve Greene’s blog at pastorgreene.wordpress.com or you can email him at [email protected] comments to [email protected].