OUR FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON TO DO AND TO TEACH Part 8

Moving to Mathew chapter 6, the Lord Jesus introduces to his followers the concept of living ones' spiritial life in secret. Three examples are given of spiritual practices that are nullified by displaying them before others to gain acclaim from other people: righteouseness, praying and fasting. 

Today we will look at the first of the three in Mathew chapter 6 verses 1 - 4;

1 “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.

2 “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. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Part of living righteously in the spirit involves generously helping other people with what they are lacking  to live and the principle of secrecy guides us to offer such assistance as discreetly as possibly.

If we seek to aggrandize ourselves by announcing our actions when we render help to others, we short-circuit our generosity because the resulting honor we receive from men becomes the full extent of our reward.

The prescription the Lord gives us is to be so discreet that when giving to others, our left hand doesn't even know that our right hand gave anything such that we do not even acknowledge it to ourselves.

When we are acting as a conduit through which the Lord is providing help to people around us in need, we should be careful to remove any trace of our involvement so that the glory of provision goes strictly to God.

It is only when we are hidden parties to these transactions that our Father in heaven rewards us.

Amen.

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