Psalm 60

In the last two verses I see a powerful truth that I need to integrate into my life; how I view the world around me. "Human help is worthless." This is true not because of the selfish motivations or sin that permeates our lives. It is worthless because no matter how hard we try we fail. Only God can bring about something good that lasts. We can only produce an image of good, but nothing good. All of the good in people is because of the residue of God's image or the Holy Spirit himself working through us.  Those outside of the faith see the good works that God's people do and attribute it to the people because they refuse to accept God. So their sin-stained minds reach the conclusion that since there is no difference between a Christian and a pagan then the pagan is just as capable of good work as the Christian. That explains why most godless humanitarian aid fails miserably in accomplishing the same goals and Christians doing the very same thing.
Stuart