It’s kind of funny that one of the first things therapists and psychologists will tell you to do when you are upset, depressed, feeling blue, etc. is to do something for someone else. And yet at the same time one of the most common sayings is “no good deed goes unpunished.” So, which one is true? Well they both are. Helping other people does help your soul. But that doesn’t mean it’s always rainbows and sunshine.
My oldest daughter went to a Christian high school that did several mission trips over the four years and gave out a service award and the recipient gave a speech at graduation. The recipient when my daughter graduated was a very sweet girl. We all thought - ahh this will be a nice speech about her service and how it changed her. Nope it was a hysterical speech that talked about everything that went wrong on her trips from people throwing bagels at her head at a homeless shelter to the entire mission team getting a stomach virus while camping with no bathrooms. I could definitely relate. I have been yelled at in so many languages for so many different things while leading mission trips in Africa, running organizations to help kids, etc. I remember just standing there and saying “Really God? I’m just trying to help here.”
In Wicked Elphaba sings “No Good Deed” when she can’t save Fiyero. She is upset because she has only tried to help others and now is losing everything. She asks the question – “was I really seeking good or just seeking attention?” Matthew 6 says:
1"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
Why is this important? Because we are to help others and do good deeds because it is what God has called us to do, it’s what we are supposed to do. Not for us, but for the Glory of God. Jesus was warning to not be like the Pharisees and hypocrites that only did them for show.
So, go and do something for someone else today; It will make you feel better. But if you get yelled at or a bagel thrown at your head, say a prayer for whoever did it. And we are human, so if you are still upset call one of your friends to laugh about it. That’s what we are here for.
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