Are you selling your souls to the world?

[alitaptap]

Many people say "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them. They will help us if we help them. They will love us if we love them”. The conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn. Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

Do you need to prove to each other that you deserved to be loved? Do you need to seek recognition, admiration, and popularity to become a worthy person? Is the state of mind that makes us living as though our worth as human being? Do you allow other people to determine who you are? Do you think you are good if other people find you to be so?

Please share your thoughts on this.

 

[prodigalson12]

Many people say "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them. They will help us if we help them. They will love us if we love them”. The conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn. Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

Do you need to prove to each other that you deserved to be loved? Do you need to seek recognition, admiration, and popularity to become a worthy person? Is the state of mind that makes us living as though our worth as human being? Do you allow other people to determine who you are? Do you think you are good if other people find you to be so?

Please share your thoughts on this.

It’s not true that people will be nice to us if we are to them, in fact, often you encounter just the opposite, this is why it’s tough to persevere as a true believer, for you will face constant rejection and ridicule.

You are correct along how it’s easy to fall into the trap of ones self worth based upon what other people think, especially worldly ones, in and out of the church.

 

[tonyrey]

Many people say "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them. They will help us if we help them. They will love us if we love them”. The conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn.

We do not have to earn love** initially** but if we do not make ourselves lovable we cannot expect to be loved as much as those who do.

Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

That is obviously incorrect.

Do you need to prove to each other that you deserved to be loved?

To a limited extent. If you do absolutely nothing for others how can you love them?

Do you need to seek recognition, admiration, and popularity to become a worthy person?

Do you allow other people to determine who you are?

We all do- and should to some extent. If we ignore what people rightly think we should be we are being foolish - to say the least…

Do you think you are good if other people find you to be so?

Not necessarily. I may be a hypocrite!

 

[JRKH]

Many people say "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them. They will help us if we help them. They will love us if we love them”. The conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn. Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

Do you need to prove to each other that you deserved to be loved? Do you need to seek recognition, admiration, and popularity to become a worthy person? Is the state of mind that makes us living as though our worth as human being? Do you allow other people to determine who you are? Do you think you are good if other people find you to be so?

Please share your thoughts on this.

So many ways to go with this.

The basic premise that "many people say, "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them… " is, of course, false. But it is not a bad sentiment to begin with.
We have two basic choices. We can be love or not love, we can be givers or takers, we can be magnanimous or we can be selfish.
What others choose to do will be based on their worldview. If they are loving people they will love you back. If they are “users” then they will continue to take your love and only return it if it is convenient for them at the time.

Do we need to prove that we deserve to be loved? To most people - Yes. To God - No, since we are unworthy of His Love no matter how hard we try. To the Christian - we should love everyone unconditionally in order to demonstrate our Love for God.

As far as seeking after the things of this world, recognition, admiration, popularity etc., if one seeks after these things for their own sakes then yes they are “selling their souls”. If they seek after the kingdom, and these things follow then no they are not “selling their souls”.
We see many celebrities who would do most anything for recognition. Yet there are others, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Mother Angelica, Padre Pio, Pope John Paul II and others who are recognized, not because they sought it, but because even the secular world saw something very special in them.

Seek first the Kingdom…

Peace
James

 

[wanstronian]

It’s not true that people will be nice to us if we are to them, in fact, often you encounter just the opposite, this is why it’s tough to persevere as a true believer, for you will face constant rejection and ridicule.

You seem to be impicitly labelling religious believers as nice people, and irreligious people as not-nice; even, to suggest that being religious makes one a nice person. Is this your intention? If so, you have a very blinkered and naive view of people.

There are nice people in the world, and nasty people in the world. There is no correlation between their ‘niceness’ and their religious polarity.

If someone is nice to me or not-nice to me, I’ll respond appropriately. Our respective religious beliefs/lack thereof, is completely irrelevant. I’d suggest the same is true of most people - it’s certainly true in my experience.

People may reject and ridicule your beliefs (and this is hardly a one-sided practice - just look at some of the venomous insults and misrepresentations posted on this forum by theists), but most people won’t reject you unless your sole (or main) contribution to the relationship is to preach your subjective beliefs at them.

I know plenty of religious people. I enjoy seeing them and certainly don’t reject them as my friends simply because of their beliefs; but I’d soon grow pretty tired of them if that was all they ever talked about.

Your post has just a touch of self-pity about it, as if you poor little innocent theists are being terrorised by immoral, evil atheists at every opportunity. This is simply not the case.

 

[Charlotte408]

Many people say "people will be nice to us if we are nice to them. They will help us if we help them. They will love us if we love them”. The conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn. Everything has to be worked for, even a kind word, an expression of gratitude, a sign of affection.

Not around my neck of the woods. Within my circle, the saying has always been ‘People take kindness for weakness’. And 9 times out of 10 it rings true.

More what I hear from other people, is, if you LOVE them, you must ACCEPT them. And under ANY circumstance. That if you LOVE them you wont tell them what they are doing is wrong…you’ll support them regardless. I often think to myself, when I hear people talk like this…if they would think that even when it means their child, friend, shooting up heroin…IMHO people that suscribe to THIS kind of thinking, are the ones who have sold their souls to the world.

 

[alitaptap]

Thank you for the responses. It seems to me, based on the responses, that the ethic of reciprocity or the so-called “Golden Rule” is not enough. We respond to others as he would like them to respond to us is not an absolute love. It has “mental reservation”. Please comment.