Looking for attention for doing what is good without a heart for what it is, and especially by comparing oneself to others, is far from the Christian spirit.
Much closer is someone who makes a mistake but really means good by others.
Christians, making a show of doing what is good without a heart for what it is is far from the Christian spirit. Much closer is someone who makes a mistake but really means good by others. Imagine a child at a birthday party who sees a bowl of vibrant gumdrops.
Filled with desire for them, he grabs more than he knows he should without thinking too much about it because they look so good. As he’s walking away, a friend asks for one and he gladly gives her one. One friend after another asks as he heads outside to where other kids are playing outdoor games. Before long, he realizes he only has one left. Another child takes only two, not very interested in the first place. As he walks away, a friend asks if she can have one, but he says, “no.” He really doesn’t want them much, but he doesn’t want to give them away either. Before long, the first boy is yelled at, “Mark! I saw you grab that giant handful earlier, but I didn’t have a chance to stop you because I was on the phone! Don’t do that again!” The boy who only took two said, “I only took two, Ms. L., because I didn’t want to be selfish.” Who did what was more wrong here, Christians?
This is not to say the first boy should have grabbed the big handful. However, what he did was far less worse than the boy who didn’t want to share with his friend what he didn’t even want, which must have hurt her feelings. Meanwhile, the boy who acted impetuously ended up giving up what he wanted to make others happy.
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