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Good Intentions or Self Serving?

 

AFM Good deeds

When did we as a society become a look at me and all the good I am doing society. Instead of doing things for the sake of doing good, we do it for the attention. When did doing good and doing it anonymously and just getting the satisifaction for yourself and the person you are doing the deed for become obsolete?

As a college student so eloquently put it as her Facebook status yesterday, “…. Yet when was the last time I made a post to point out to the world, that I’m doing a good deed? By no means am I saying that I’m better than anyone else but I just think that if you’re posting every time you do something nice for somebody else, then maybe your intentions aren’t where you claim them to be. Sometimes the things that truly define someone’s character is what they do for another human being without seeking recognition for it.”  Reading this post from a college student prompted me to write this post and pose the questions – when did it become a look at me and all the good I am doing society? Just like the saying “the road to he!! Is paved with good intentions.” So even good intentions or good deeds can lead you astray if you are doing them for all the wrong reasons. If you are doing the deed to help others than by all means do it, but if you have time to make a post, video or snap a picture to post about the good deed so you can just hear praises or to get more accolades were those good deeds really good or were they really self-serving. Now the next time you are making decisions to do something nice for others- look at your motives. Now I will make a note here for parents if you do a good deed as a parent to show your child how to do a good deed then it is a great teaching tool. It is good to point out to your children when they witness a good deed but make a point to let your child know that it is about how the deed makes the person receiving the deed and the person doing the deed makes them feel. It should never be about the accolades. The personal satisifaction that you get from doing the deed should be enough.

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8 Comments

  1. Well, Becky – Above- said almost what I was going to say myself. The Word of God tells us to give and not let our left hand know what our right hand gives. It tells us when we seek the praise of man – that is what we get – the praise of man. But when we do things for God’s glory and not for show – then He honors us. Whether that happens here on earth or when we get to heaven – is for Him to decide! Your post is right on!!

  2. I know I had reservations about sharing about giving to a waitress for this reason. In fact, when my friends were praising me, I felt it was wrong and reminded them that it wasn’t me, but that I was allowing God to work through me and that with the help of all, we could make a difference. I decided to share in hopes of inspiring others to be kind. I totally get what you are saying–do it for good, not for accolades. (You can read about my experience here if you’d like: http://www.anniam.com/2013/12/the-best-give-you-can-receive-christmas.html)

  3. I agree with all that was said before I posted. The word of God tells us how to do the good that we will do; and then specifically instructs us on how to do good. If we busied ourselves trying to do that good we probably wouldn’t have time to pat ourselves on the back about it. Sometimes we just have to do an internal check to make sure we haven’t gotten out of line with the character we want to pursue and present in Christ.

  4. I have a family member who makes a big deal of it publicly whenever she does even the smallest good deed. I think the intention of a good deed is very transparent when a person makes an announcement of what they have done. I am happy to give and assist just for the sake of helping someone in need.

  5. This is very interesting. I had a friend post one time about a homeless guy he bought a coffee and chatted with and told about the mans story and I thought it was nice and gave others something to think about and to tell people to do good things and not judge homeless people. I didn’t think my friend was being “showy or selfish” but then someone commented on the post with a comment about him trying to get attention for posting it when I thought the opposite. I do think there are a lot of people who do good deeds just to do them (myself included) but others are just feeling good about themselves and want to share, and then of course there are people just trying to get attention so it goes all ways I think :-).

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