Chip Gaines issues challenge to spread kindness: 'Kindness is contagious, but the spark has to start somewhere'

Chip Gaines recently penned a powerful note on the importance of spreading kindness in the world and urged his followers to do so themselves.

The former "Fixer Upper" star and father of five, 44, began his post on his wife Joanna's Magnolia blog by commenting on the state of our society, alluding to recent tragedies and tensions prevalent across the country.

"It’s been a tough couple of weeks for a lot of people in our country, and I can’t help but wonder, how did we get here?" he wrote.

"I believe that we are all made in likeness, and because of that, our hearts are naturally drawn toward one another," he continued. "But the thing about kindness is, it’s a choice."

Gaines explained that all types of kindness are necessary in the world, including small acts to simply cheer someone up that don't necessarily need recognition, along with grand gestures.

"It’s something that we should give freely with the hopeful expectation that it might one day be given freely to us," he detailed.

"I’m talking more in the day-to-day, in kindness that abounds in equal measure for a loved one as it does a stranger on the street," he continued. "The way I see it, how we choose to interact with our neighbors, our coworkers, the people online, the check-out clerk at the grocery store, and even the person who mindlessly cuts us off in traffic has a profound effect on how others will choose to interact with us."

He added that kindness is "contagious."

The post ended with a challenge from Gaines that his company, Magnolia, is taking part in -- and he hopes you will too. He urged his fans to complete an act of kindness of their own and provided flyers with random acts of kindness for some inspiration.

"Kindness is contagious, but the spark has to start somewhere," he wrote. "Why don’t we start here? And why don’t we start now?"

He also urged those taking part in the challenge to use the hashtag "#makeKINDNESSloud" to spread the word.

Read Chip Gaines essay in full and check out some of the kindness flyers here.