May 26, 2026
I was thrift shopping for dorm stuff. The cashier appeared to be one of the most unhappy, maddest people ever. I was six people deep in the line and it seemed like she got more and more exasperated with each passing customer.
She was especially incensed when one of my unmarked items needed a price check. It sent this poor woman toppling right over the edge and I bore the brunt of her fall.
But as she rang up my items, I felt a little tingle in my spirit. A soul nudge.
I tried to bargain with Jesus and told him that the extra little bit of cash in the back side of my wallet was not meant for her. It surely should go to someone sweeter and kinder, more deserving, or at least appreciative maybe. Not someone downright mean and angry.
But God did not budge. Nor did the tingle. …
So, I paid my bill and reluctantly found the backside of my wallet. I slipped her some cash as she handed me my receipt.
She was caught off-guard by the gesture.
She gripped the folded bill with one hand and paused. Then slid her mask down with the other hand. Her loud, stern voice got quiet when she whispered a single word: “Why?” To which I answered two words back: “Soul nudge.”
There was another pause. A brief reckoning of sorts. When she grabbed my hand and held on, I was the one caught off-guard. “Today’s my 75th birthday and ain’t nobody called me. Not my sister. Not none of my kids. None of these people here. Nobody. Nothing. I don’t think I can remember ever being so sad. Ain’t nobody even remembered it’s my birthday.”
I felt the tingle again. And looked up into the buzzing, broken ballast of the light fixture above us in this old warehouse. Like Jesus is some pie-in-the-sky that we might see if we look hard enough. The light flickered. “Somebody remembered,” I said. While I did not see Jesus, that small soul nudge told me that He saw her.
She bit her bottom lip when her eyes threatened to leak. And I noticed a deep hurt and sweet humility under the figurative and physical mask she wore underneath her chin.
We all have our masks, don’t we?
The birthday news had made its way beside me, and two more customers connected. Talk is cheap and words seem too few—until they aren’t. There was a small chorus of chirping happy birthdays. She just stood there, patting her heart and taking it all in. The words penetrated. Anger dissipated. Hope manifested. The tingle became tangible.
We just never know what someone else may be navigating or battling. Things are not always as they seem.
We are living in an upside-down world right now. We may be tempted to return hatefulness with hate. To retaliate. To alienate. … But there’s a better way.
I thought I needed dorm stuff today. Turns out I needed reminding—maybe you do too?
Let’s be slow to judge. And quick to obey. Trust the Holy Spirit to lead the way.
The human heart, guided by Love, will not lead you astray.—Author unknown1
John 3:16 tells us what it means to love like Jesus loves: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” Godly love gives sacrificially. Loving like Jesus means we hold everything we own with loose hands. We are willing to part with money, time, and possessions in order to serve other people. … When we see a brother or sister in need, and we have resources that could help, we are to share what we have with them (James 2:15–17; 1 John 3:16–17).
Jesus was undiscriminating in the way He loved. … Rich and poor, young and old, religious and pagan—people flocked to hear Jesus because He loved them (Mark 10:1; Matthew 9:35–36; Luke 18:18).
To love like Jesus means we cannot be selective in how we treat people. … We are to treat every human being with dignity and respect, remembering that this person is a special creation, designed in the image of God (1 John 2:9–10; 4:20–21). We must work to rid our hearts of racial prejudice, socio-economic snobbery, and religious superiority. None of that belongs in the life of someone who wants to love like Jesus loves.—GotQuestions.org2
When you show love and consideration to people you don’t feel particularly drawn to or think deserve it, you’re giving them My love, which goes beyond human love. In fact, this is an even greater manifestation of My love than when you show love to someone you feel close to. This is not being hypocritical or false. To the contrary, it’s fulfilling My commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. You’re acting on My Word, and you’re letting My love move you to do something good.
Even though you may not particularly like someone, that shouldn’t hold you back from loving that person with My love. No one is too bad for Me or beyond the reach of My love, and I want you to help convey that to others. Even though you may not feel that way about them, I do. By showing them love and understanding, you’re giving them My love.
When you show loving kindness without partiality, you’re expressing My love. Not only will I bless the ones you show love and consideration to, but I will also bless you. As you continue to give My love, no matter how you feel, you are My messenger of love and you are fulfilling My will for you.—Jesus
“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Hebrews 13:16).
See those four little words, tucked tight in the middle of this sentence?
Share what you have.
When we go through life willing to share what God has given us, we see how it makes Him feel: “… such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
All around us are people in need of encouragement. What can you do to lift their spirits? It may mean speaking a kind word. It could be sharing a modest meal. It could be giving them the gift of a listening ear or a prayer spoken in faith. Whatever you possess—materially or emotionally—determine to be a person who regularly and cheerfully shares what she has.
Even small sacrifices—of our time or resources—please the Lord. Let’s reach out this week and willingly bless others with a portion of the provisions Christ has already lavished on us.—Karen Ehman3
Published on Anchor May 2026. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso. Music by Michael Fogarty.
1 “Soul Nudges and Heart Tingles,” The Everyday Good, August 12, 2022, https://www.theeverydaygood.com/post/soul-nudges-and-heart-tingles
2 “What does it mean to love like Jesus?” GotQuestions.org, https://www.gotquestions.org/love-like-Jesus.html
3 Karen Ehman, “Share Your Stuff; Serve the Lord,” Proverbs 31, October 12, 2020, https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2020/10/12/share-your-stuff-serve-the-lord
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