"Why" Matters

            You may have already seen this.  A study shows that people who volunteer tend to live longer than those who don’t.  You can find the study here.

            Volunteering is generally a good thing, of course.  Interestingly, however, the reasons we volunteer matter.  Those who volunteered for selfless and altruistic reasons, such as “I want to help others”, had substantial lower mortality rates.  They increased their odds of living longer.  On the other hand, those who volunteered for more selfish reasons, Such as “It’s an escape from my own troubles” or “It makes me feel better about myself” had almost the same mortality rate as those who did not volunteer at all.  They increased their odds of living longer a little bit, but not much.

            This does not mean, of course, that it’s wrong to feel good about volunteering.  Almost every time we volunteer for anything, there’s a part of us that feels good.  Most of us have a desire to feel that we’re making a contribution to something.  Most of us want to feel that we’re making the world, or at least the part of it in which we live, a better place in some small way.  As one of the researchers said, “It is reasonable for people to volunteer in part because of benefits to the self.  However, our research implies that, ironically, should those benefits to the self become the main motive for volunteering, they may not see those benefits.”

What it means is that it’s not just what we do that matters; it’s why we do it.  This is why our salvation is based on our faith, rather than our works.  It’s one thing to do good things for entirely selfish reasons, but another to do good things because we’re living out our faith in God.

I used to not understand that.  Then, I started noticing Wanda’s reaction when I would do things for her.  If I did something for Wanda, but made clear that I was doing it because I thought I had to or because I wanted something from her in return, Wanda did not feel very loved as a result.  If, on the other hand, I did something for Wanda gladly and willingly, without her having to ask and with no other desire than just to make her happy, Wanda felt very loved.  Of course, my reaction to Wanda doing things for me is the same.

I suspect God feels the same way about the things we do.  If we do good things just out of obligation, because we feel like we have to, but our hearts are not in them, that does not particularly honor God.  That does not show the love for God that we are supposed to show.  If, on the other hand, we do good things with no expectation of anything in return, but just because we want to show God’s love to people, that does honor God.  That does show the love for God we are supposed to show.

We owe God more than we could ever repay.  All God asks in return is love.  Let’s live our lives in a way that shows that love, both to God and to those around us.