The Ultimate Rewards Program

People serving people at Thanksgiving

I grew up believing that there are rewards for doing good deeds.

"Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." - Matthew 10:41-42

Rewards are a great motivator.  Credit cards companies and retailers have learned that.  I rack up rewards points every time I shop, and I look for opportunities to double and triple them whenever I can.

The idea of storing up points which can be used to get something free is a powerful one, but I wonder if it is a good way to look at life or to live it.  What is the lesson we learn if our motivation for doing good is to get something in return?

It is true that the type of rewards programs we encounter every day have nothing to do with performing acts of kindness or compassion toward others.  We buy something using our double rewards points card and we get to cash those points in for something else we want later.  It is a win-win, since it is all about us and what we want.

Even when we are donating to a worthy cause, we tend to look for a personal benefit, like a tax deduction, giving us a type of personal gain from the gesture, so we have to do some filtering of our acts and deeds to be able to focus on those that are purely directed at helping others for their sake.

So, does it matter the motive if good is the outcome?

I think it does.

For me, seeking a reward for my actions is not much different from doing things to avoid feeling bad or guilty.  It's all about me.  I do, so I feel better.  I do, so I gain.

You can argue that it is the way of the world, that even those who give with no desire to get back, receive an abundance of joy in return for their generosity.  So, every act of kindness has a reward attached.

Perhaps.  And maybe that is the only way we can look at it.  No matter what and how we give, we receive a reward in return.  Sometimes it is obvious, and sometimes it is subtle, but it is always there.

Is it a bad thing to be motivated by the knowledge that when we give we will receive?

I guess we just have to live with that and do our best to realize that somewhere deep beneath the motivation and the pride and the joy and the self-satisfaction, there lies something that is the key to the ultimate rewards program - Love.