Good Deeds

I've noticed a trend lately. Good deeds.  I've also noticed the trend to brag about good deeds on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. I've gotta tell you, I'm a fan of one but not of the other.

I love a good deed. Donating to a charity, giving food and clothes to the less fortunate, helping an elderly lady to her car. But why the need to broadcast it all over the Internet? Shouldn't doing what's right be enough for us?  I admit I too struggle with this sometimes. When I do something good, of course I want to hear "good job!", "you're such a great person!", and other compliments. But here's the real question: what actually makes a person a "good person"? In my opinion, the deed itself should be enough validation for ourselves instead of the comments on our public profiles.

It's hard with social media being such a huge part of our every day lives. We make every day happenings public for everyone to see. Weddings, babies, vacations. I get that. But I really think this is something we need to keep to ourselves and let our good deeds speak for themselves. After all, do you really need someone you graduated high school with 10 years ago or someone's second cousin that you've met twice to tell you that what you did was a good thing? Let's be confident in our good deeds without feeling the need to advertise them.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:1-4...

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
² So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

THIS! This is what I'm talking about. Now, don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying one cancels out the other by any means. It's just my feeling that we should do the right thing because it's the right thing to do, and not because we feel the need to prove anything to our Internet friends.

Am I alone is this feeling? Do you think good deeds should be made public for the whole world to see, or should we keep these triumphs to ourselves?