The Reward Expectation Paradox

Sister Cristina B. Franco spoke of The Joy of Unselfish Service, but even just the title gives me some concern. I'm not sure it's possible for a Christian to truly be selfless.

When one has a knowledge of the Gospel and the blessings that come from being righteous, doesn't that knowledge play into one's decision-making, at least subconsciously? When we do something nice for someone, even though we know that there's nothing in it for us, don't we know, somewhere in the backs of our minds, that there actually is something in it for us? We know God rewards righteousness. We know that, if we do good unselfishly, we can expect a reward. But if we actually expect that reward, we're less likely to get it.

It's tricky. If a person is unselfish, they can expect a reward, but if they actually expect the reward, they're not really being unselfish, so the reward for unselfishness won't come. But, if a person who only does good for the reward realizes that they're not going to get the reward but does good anyway, they actually will get the reward. This whole situation creates some weird reward expectation paradox. You receive the opposite of what you expect, and if you change what you expect, you change what you'll receive as well.

I suppose the real trick, as will all paradoxes, is to not think about it. If you don't think about the blessings, the existence of those blessings won't factor into your motivations, at least not consciously, so you're more likely to get the blessings you're deliberately not thinking about.