Why do You Call me Good

The following are some thoughts included with those of my friend Bill Landon from his book, The Life That is Real Life.

The video clip is one I chose to visually illustrate this opaque matter of actions and motivations.

Rich




We may pride ourselves in being perceptive, the fact is that many times we don’t know enough about the whole picture to know what is good and what is bad simply by outward appearances. One major reason for this deceptive appearance of our actions is motivation. We often do things not because they are good but because we want to look good (have a good reputation). On the other hand we do things that are wrong simply because we want to do them. If our actions are self-serving or just wrong we justify or rationalize the wrong of those actions in our own minds.

I like how Jesus addressed/undressed the display window ‘righteousness’ worn within the religious establishment of his day. (Matthew 23:27).

The art of illusion is capable of causing us to believe what our eyes are witnessing could not be anything but the truth, or is it?
Many actions that appeared to be good or charitable seen at first glance might later show up being profoundly evil or at best self-serving.
The only truly good act is the deed done from a pure heart in surrendered obedience to the Father’s will. This is the first big clue we have that the there is a good deal more to doing than we have been led to believe by the religious organizations of the world.

Our view at best is but the tip of the ice-berg regarding the motivations of a person interior; they are hidden from our observation. In the end, the motivations of our hearts are an issue between each of us and the Father. We can recognize the purely evil deed but beyond that the picture is obscure. This lack of clarity comes from the fact that all actions are a combination of the act itself and its driving motivation. In our lives what we do and what we see others doing is a collection of deeds that are “good bad” (good act, bad motivation), “bad good “(bad act, good motivation), “bad bad” (bad act, bad motivation) and “good good” (good act, good motivation).