Everything we do has a complex variety of motives, and I think our hearts are better than we sometimes feel. However, Adam Smith has some insights into how we might make our motives a little more suitable to our overall goals of helping out in society. He says that gentle actions, such as expressing love, being generous, visiting the sick, and saying thank you should be done because of the feelings that naturally occur within us. This helps people to feel the affectionate feelings that we have for them.
A more economic application of this idea has to do with the common property problem. When nobody owns a certain property, then people use its immediate benefits too quickly and don't invest in making the property more valuable in the future.
I will compare a commonly owned property to our character. Some parts of our character we do not develop unless duty to God reminds us of the long-term private benefits that we can achieve by investing. On the margin, our impatience will make it seem that being honest in every situation might offend, but by investing in a reputation of being honest, future benefits of being trusted far outweigh the perceived benefits of one little lie (which will no doubt turn into more lies). Likewise, exercising discipline of any sort yields long-run benefits which are not immediately visible.
With other aspects of our character, the benefits to ourselves and those in our immediate vicinity are apparent. For example, expressing love and being generous immediately bring warm feelings to the giver and receiver. Such actions are most beneficial when they stem from affectionate feelings, and not just from personal duty or an interest in the distant future.
