Let me start by making it as clear as I can, Salvation is a free gift from God. We cannot do anything to deserve salvation. It is not possible for us to earn salvation no matter how many or how great our deeds are. Because Jesus Christ has entered our lives and our hearts he has brought us the great gift of eternal life. That’s not our doing. It is His doing.
So, with that being established, many people do not understand why other people seem to work so hard at doing good things for others. It is as though some folks simply can’t understand why in the world someone would give of their time and money to feed poor people, or to visit prisoners in jail, or to call on sick people and pray with them. Why indeed do so many people give so generously of their time and money to the Church. Are these people making an ill-advised attempt to earn their way into heaven? For some people that is the only explanation that they can see for the good works that so surround us.
I submit to you that there are many reasons for people to do good things. There are both good reasons and bad reasons for doing good things. For instance, if a man takes money out of his own pocket and gives it to a poor man, that is a good thing. But if the man uses that gift to remind the poor man that he is now under some obligation since he accepted the gift and calls upon him to repay the gift in some way, then the gift becomes an evil thing. Another common evil in our modern age is for a man to require another man to take money out of his pocket and give it to the poor man, then it is not charity, it is coercion. To give your own money is a good thing. To force others to give their money is evil.
People do nice things for other people, sometimes, to feel good about themselves. They do those things sometimes so that others will see their good deeds and think well of them. As Jesus says: “they have received their reward.” All of these reasons for doing good things make the good deed somewhat less than it should be.
The reasons for doing good works are many and our motives can be complicated. But there is one motive that is pure and without fault. While we know it is not true, we hope that everyone does good things for others because of Love. Love God and Love your neighbor, that’s our command. For me, loving my neighbor sometimes comes down to loving him or her simply because I know that God loves them. I often can’t see why God loves certain people, but I know that He does, and therefore I strive to look deep within them and find that tiny little speck of loveableness that God must see in them.
People work hard in the Church, and they work hard in the streets, and they work hard in the hospitals, and they work hard in their daily lives doing things that others may see as seeking after their own salvation or perhaps just seeking their own good, when actually these are places that they have found God especially present for them. And in these times and places they have discovered that what they have is an opportunity to express the love that dwells deep inside. Like a wife cooking for her husband, or a husband caring for the home that his wife has made, emotions well up inside of us and compel us to offer little sacrifices of love. Those are the the loving gifts that make all of life sweet. It is not about salvation, and it is not about self promotion, rather those good deeds are a celebration of love.