If your friend is unselfish - it's great!

In the brilliant novel of Ilf and Petrov "12 chairs" there is a very colorful character - grief-father, pop Fedor Vostrikov. Having learned about the treasures of Madame Petukhova, he set out to get ahead of the legitimate heir to Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobyaninov (Kisu). His swindler Fyodor concealed his not a Christian purpose with one outstanding phrase, which had long since become independent: "Do not profit, but by the will of my wife!"

Self-interested and disinterested

What is self-interest? Greed, gain, pursuit of one's interests to the detriment of other people. And if a person is disinterested? This is a completely different moral and moral category. As a rule, the main character trait of such personalities is altruism. Everything they do for someone is done diligently, in good faith, not for a tick. The main thing is that a person does not demand or expect for his good deeds any gratitude and pay when he is unselfish. This distinguishes him from those who also help, but for money.

Reward for kindness

No matter how strange this may sound, there was also a fee for disinterestedness. More precisely, the reward. In the first quarter of the XIX century (1824), the Russian Emperor Alexander I instituted an appropriate medal. They cast it out of silver, and decorated its own imperial profile with a regalia.

For the history of the existence of the medal, only one person was awarded to be awarded it, that is, he was unselfish in the eyes of the state. It was a certain Khovrin, a non-commissioned officer from Nizhny Novgorod. He caught a robber who had stolen a very large sum for those times-eighteen thousand four hundred rubles, and returned everything to a penny-a major named Koltovsky. Then it was decided that Khovrin is unselfish. This is recorded in the annals of history, giving the distinguished new medal.

The vow of non-covetousness

Unsuspension, non-covetousness are considered to be the most important qualities of true Christians. Jesus is the most vivid example of such an ideal behavior. A disinterested person will never strive for accumulation, does not seek wealth, he is not characterized by greed and avarice. This is how the monks-devotees, fools, wanderers once behaved. They knew how to be content with a small, more precisely, the most necessary. They spent time in fasting and prayer. Unselfishness is an indispensable component for establishing harmonic relations between members of society, citizens of the state. After all, the basis of unselfishness is love for people, relatives and strangers. And also generosity, modesty, mercy. Again, I want to recall the words of Christ. When preaching, he pointed out that it was not enough to be kind to the members of his family, to forgive them, to help them. Sinners do so! But truly disinterestedly comes the one who helps outsiders, responds to someone else's misfortune, is engaged in charity. In this same line of spiritual values there is also a disinterested friendship.

Manifestation of disinterestedness

When exactly can we say that someone has acted unselfishly? What is expressed in this quality, in what specific situations is it manifested? For example, in refusing gifts, offerings. Sometimes even an inoffensive bouquet of flowers can be an attempt to pay for a good deed. It seems a trifle, why not take it? But then all disinterestedness is completely erased! The fact of the matter is that it does not at all and does not accept any, absolutely no transactions and payments.

With disinterestedness there is a complete rejection of honors and rewards, a manifestation of benevolence and courtesy in response to frank rudeness and rudeness. Love without reciprocity, without hope for it, is also selfless, like friendship with people "just like that," without any calculation, using their location, influence, money, help, etc. Unselfish people are the righteous people on whom our world is still clinging.