The Mother with Two Sons

A woman had two sons. She told her first son to do something for her. He did not understand why she wanted him to do this but he did it anyway. She than told her second son to do the same thing for her. The second son also did not understand why she wanted him to do this, so he said to his mother he would not do it until the she explained why she wanted him to do it. So the mother explained it to him and he understood that if he did it he would be prosperous and if he did not do it he would suffer a terrible loss. So he also did what his mother said.

Now even though both sons did what their mother said and prospered, they did it for completely different reasons. The first son did it because he loved his mother and wanted to please her. The second son did it because he loved himself and wanted to please himself. When we only do what God tells us to do, after we understand how it will benifit us, we are not doing it because we love God but because we love our self.