Doing it naturally

Eastern scholar RH Blyth said that it is not so much for our sins that are obvious weaknesses and a vulgarity, as our virtues that we need to be delivered from. Because if the rich man gives up his wealth to feed the poor and makes a show of it, he would still be far from heaven. “Forgive us our good deeds as we forgive those who do good deeds to us.” The Bible has something similar in Matthew 6:3, “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth.”

What this means is that the action should be done as secretly as possible because only that would please God and He will openly reward it, if not in this life, then in the next. In any case, rarely, if ever, does the man who has been liberal to the poor suffer by it in his worldly circumstances. However, what is left pretty much unsaid here is that there is a reward involved in doing what is considered the ‘right thing’. Which must mean that at the very least, there would be some people who, while being completely secretive about it, would still be doing it for the reward.

Does God reward such reward-seeking behaviour too that only incidentally involves charity? If so, it would seem to be unfair to the people who may be making a show of it but are not doing it with any reward in mind. What if they are also trying to set an example for other people to follow? On the other hand, those who aren’t interested in gaining brownie points, nor worried about being called attention-seekers, don’t care if they do their charity in private or not. They just go ahead and do it because it is part of their nature.