Our Motives for Doing Righteous Things

Church Educational System
It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason. For example, it is right to pay tithing or to pray. But if a person does these things to “be seen of men,” they are not counted as righteous acts. Christ taught that such persons “have their reward” when they achieve the recognition which they seek (see Matthew 6:1–8, 16–18). Elder Marion G. Romney shared the following personal experience regarding our motives for doing righteous things:

“About a quarter of a century ago Sister Romney and I moved into a ward in which they were just beginning to build a meetinghouse. The size of the contribution the bishop thought I ought to contribute rather staggered me. I thought it was at least twice as much as he should have asked. However, I had just been called to a rather high Church position, so I couldn’t very well tell him where to go. Therefore, I said, ‘Well, I will pay it, Bishop, but I will have to pay it in installments because I don’t have the money.’ And so I began to pay. And I paid and paid until I was down to about the last three payments, when, as is my habit, I was reading The Book of Mormon, and came to the scripture which said:

“‘… if a man … giveth a gift … grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God.’ (Moroni 7:8.)

“This shocked me because I was out about a thousand dollars. Well, I went on and paid the three installments I had promised to pay, and then I paid several more installments to convince the Lord that I had done it with the right attitude”

(“Mother Eve, a Worthy Exemplar,” Relief Society Magazine, Feb. 1968, pp. 84–85).

Book of Mormon Student Manual (1996 Edition)

References