Scripture: Matthew 6: 1-4
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Scripture Commentary: Do not do as the hypocrites.
Hypocrite, as used here, describes people who do good acts for appearances only. They have neither compassion nor good motives. Their actions may be good but their motives are hollow.
Jesus says not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
He is teaching that our motives for giving to God and to others must be pure. It’s easy to give with mixed motives. It’s easy to give when it benefits us in return. But if we are Christians, we should not give for the pleasure of ourselves. We are to give as a response to God’s love.
To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives.
Why do you give?
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