Demanding Nothing in Return

The heart of a Christian is freed from having to qualify its love. It does not demand something in return. The Christian's heart is, therefore, a daring heart. Unqualified compassion involves great risk. Good deeds may go unappreciated. Kindness may be mistaken for weakness. Love may not be repaid. Gifts may go to the undeserving, perhaps even to a con-artist. 

By doing good for others, we are taking our lights out from under the bushel basket and putting them on a candlestick to give light to those around us. Listen to Matthew 5:16: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." There are great risks in this life, and even greater risks in the hereafter, if our heart is calloused against the needs of those around us. 

In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus describes the judgment scene in which He separates the sheep from the goats. In verse 34, He welcomes the sheep, and in verses 35-36, He tells them it is because of all the good they have accomplished in their lives. Contrast this to what He says to the goats on His left in verses 41-43: "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me." In verse 46, He says, "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." 

The obvious thing for us to do, therefore, is to give without asking anything in return. The risk is well worth it because in the end the righteous will go into eternal life.