Good deeds?

What are good deeds?

Do all "good" deeds come from the same place; a place of love? Can the exact same deed come from a place of wholeness by one person and a place of need by another? And if it comes out of ²need is it truly a loving deed?

Truly good deeds that come from a heart of love have ¹no strings attached. The doer of such deeds is only interested in the deeds being gratefully received.

But this is not because the doer needs it to be gratefully received for themself. But because it confirms the deed helped the recipient as intended to i.e. to show love.

Such deeds are not designed to manipulate others to meet their own need for love.

Deeds done out of a need for love are actually done under the guise of giving. Such deeds do not come out of love but out of a need for love and affirmation gained through their good deeds. This is giving of a sort but only superficially i.e. on the outside.

Truly good deeds are intended to give love and also enjoy receiving it as well. It is who were designed to be as bearers of God's image. But receiving isn't the motive to action. Love is i.e. giving not receiving.

Deeds done to fill a need in us is giving to get love. This comes out of a need for love, not from a place of love. It comes from emptiness (lack of love) not fullness. Therefore it is not truly giving, but ²taking.

This need is only there because of our disconnection from our Designer and Creator who is the source of life, love, and all things. We can not be truly loving if we are not plugged in to the Source of love.

If we accept God's love extended to us through Christ we shift from being takers of love to givers but not until then.

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Footnotes:

¹good deeds are not enough. This is why love is not easily offended. It comes out of fullness not need...

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the trutzh. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things...

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Cor 13:1-7, 13 

²this is not to say such deeds are never helpful, but in time we may find they have clear strings attached which may cause us to have to detach from those who "love" in this way.

The claims of Christ and His return!!

Christ did everything necessary to completely ¹unwind and reverse all that is wrong in the world. 

Yet the world remains a mess.

Why?  

Because the reversal Christ gained is not automatic or 100% complete yet

and 

most do not take advantage of it to experience what is offered now or what is to come later. 

Why don't people take advantage? 

Because they (you) either don't understand what He offered, believe it is true, or think it is necessary. 

However the mess the world is in clearly indicates how necessary this reversal is. 

Christ's claims

This reversal is not only necessarily but also very real, if only because Christ said it was. 

And it was because he made these ²claims, that he was put to death. 

One of many of his ²claims and predictions was he would be put to death but would also ³raise himself from death on the 3rd day. Which ⁴he did. 

No one had ever done this before or since, much less claim they would. His coming back to life was ³unique only to Him. 

It also confirmed and verified everything else he said about Himself was true. 

His ressurection is why His claims should be heeded above anyone and everyone else's. 

What were Christ's key claims? 

He made several, including: 

• Being the Son of God: 

Christ claimed to be the divine and eternal Son of God, equal in power and nature to God the Father (John 1:1-3,14,18, John 10:30, Philippians 2:6). 

• Being the Messiah: 

He claimed to be Israel's long-awaited Messiah or the Christ - the anointed one - i.e. sent by His Father to save humanity from ultimate death and destruction...spiritually first but literally in the future (John 4:25-26, Matthew 16:16-17). 

• Being the resurrection and the life: 

He claimed that He has the power to conquer death (which He did by His own resurrection) and grant eternal life (resurrection from death) to anyone who believes in Him (John 11:25-26, Romans 6:9). 

• Being the only way to God: 

Christ claimed that He is the exclusive way to God, His Father, and that no one can approach God properly except through Him (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). 

• Being the true vine: 

Christ claimed to be the source of spiritual life and nourishment for believers, comparing Himself to the vine and believers to the branches (John 15:1-5). 

These claims, along with His teachings and miracles, formed the basis of His followers' belief in Him as the divine Savior and the only way back to God. 

Christ claims to be alive today and also claimed he would return to rule the world with truth, love, justice, and abundance. 

Because he is alive and will return, it is wise to ⁵study all he did and all he claimed to be. If what he said is true, our (your) eternal state and happiness depend on it. 

For a further discussion on why Christ must be the only way to God click here and here

For a discussion on Christ's central message click here 

What is the "good news?" Click here.

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¹So when will he fullfil the complete restoration he promised? 

For now he reverses the legal consequences i.e. there is no longer any judgment or condemnation for anyone who believes His claims and excepts his offer of forgiveness and restoration to His Father. 

What is fully extended to those who believe His claims is perfect acceptance and infinite love that can never be taken away. 

And ultimately - in eternity - he will eliminate the practical and physical consequences of the mess the world is in as well. These promises will be fulfilled when Christ returns to establish heaven on earth under his literal, physical reign. 

There will be no more pain or tears or death in the new life He will set up on earth. There will only be perfect flourishing and the perpetual progression of joy, adventure, and creativity to His honor and glory. 

We will enter into a never-ending, increasing state of bliss without barriers or limits, for we will be fully engaged and participating in Him who is the source of life, love, and all things. 

²And what were the primary claims that resulted in His death. He was God with us. He was the promised and long awaited Messiah; the Christ; the only Annointed of God.  Religion and "good" deeds can not and do not restore us to the Father. Only He could and does if we believe him and the claims he made about himself. He invites us to come and believe. 

³No other religion or religious founder made this claim, much less fulfilled it. NO ONE! 

⁴You may find the movie "A Case for Christ" helpful regarding this. It is a true story about an atheist named Lee Strobel that set out to debunk Christianity and Christ's claims.

⁵This blog may help.