The Pitfalls of Being Nice

A couple of posts ago I wrote about overextending myself to the point of exhaustion as I cooked, cleaned, and cooked some more for my son and a group of his friends.  In the midst of my labors I caught a glimpse of insight into my own motivations, and not all of them were selfless.  A good portion of my hard work was aimed toward gaining the admiration and appreciation of my son and his friends.  I loved taking care of them and seeing them around my table, but did I need to prepare a huge Sunday morning breakfast that none of them really wanted to get out of bed to eat?  No.

I have gained a new blogger friend named Carol Noren Johnson, who saw the aforementioned post, and in response shared her book, entitled Getting off the Niceness Treadmill.  In the book, Carol writes:

"We get pumped up on our niceness treadmill thinking of what we can do for someone else to the exclusion of our devotion to the Lord, who never needed us to do His work anyway...by helping others we may have short-circuited our own needs and responsibilities" (p. 7).  

"I am narrowing my focus on Whom and What I please.  Whom is God and What is what He wants"  (p. 47).

"Good deeds have to come from godliness purified by Jesus Christ as summed up in Titus 2:11-14"   (p. 63). 

"Now I dare to care not whether my giving is recognized or even outstanding.  Why have I needed that glory!  Off the treadmill!  I surrender to the Lord and His glory"  (p.64). 

"I can always say and mean it, "I will pray about my involvement with your need" rather than rush to help.  We need to see how the Lord will supply their needs"   (p. 66). 

"We crown Him, tremble before Him, offer our lives to Him.  We do not need praise. We glory that He is praised"  (p. 68).  

Aren't these great quotes?  You can find Carol's book at Amazon.com.  And, if you head over to her blog,  you'll see that she has reviewed a caregiving book that you may find to be of interest!