Sometimes, in my efforts to be good and do what is right, I end up putting on blinders of self-righteousness. I become proud and condemn those whom I see as not making the same efforts at goodness and I do. I become self-entitled and start believing I can be pardoned for my ‘small’ transgressions for all the good I am doing. I may even become deceitful, applying different standards of goodness for myself and for others. In the end, those whom I consider my inferiors do more good than I and are better disciples than I can ever hope to be.
The goodness I think of and believe I should be doing should not just stay in my head. It should travel to my heart and change me. And from my heart, it should come to my hands and be evident in the things that I do. Doing good is not just an intellectual exercise. Neither is it just about feelings. The proof of the goodness is in the action and the doing.
The Lord hears the cry of the poor.
~ Psalm 34
Jesus said to them, “Amen, I say to you,
tax collectors and prostitutes
are entering the Kingdom of God before you.
When John came to you in the way of righteousness,
you did not believe him;
but tax collectors and prostitutes did.
Yet even when you saw that,
you did not later change your minds and believe him.”
Matthew 21:31-32