GOD ONLY KNOWS
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Opening Prayer
I come to your Word, Father, with a heart grateful that you purpose to speak to me through it. Please help me hear what you say and apply it today.
Read MATTHEW 6:1—4
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Matthew
Matthew 6
1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, 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 men. I tell you the truth, 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.
Reflect
What drives your actions to give to those in need?
Living in God’s new kingdom puts our motives under the microscope. Already, we have seen this applied to negative actions like murder and adultery, but now Jesus addresses three main positive areas of religious practice where God expects our obedience. The first is giving to those in need. Altruism’s temptation is that even while we are being generous, we ensure that other people know about our gifts. Jesus exposes such mixed motives. ‘Blowing your own trumpet’ can be blatantly obvious, and there is evidence that this did occur in the temple,1 but there are far more subtle ways of indulging in self-congratulatory giving.
Jesus warns that while such giving may receive an immediate reward of human approval, God doesn’t acknowledge it. He only approves when our motives are pure. How does that happen? By giving to the needy in secret so that only God sees. His audience of one is the only audience that matters. A striking metaphor about the left hand not knowing about the right’s action, rams home the care needed to distinguish generosity from ostentation. Concentrate on the secrecy needed.
Notice, however, that giving before the audience of one does bring the Father’s reward (v. 4). Some have gravely misinterpreted this, as though God is operating some reciprocal principle—that when you give stuff away, he will repay you with more stuff. God’s character is incredibly generous, but when we experience his lavish concern, it is never the result of our actions, but rather his grace. When we genuinely care for those in need with no hidden motives, we share in God’s kingdom purpose. and he goes on loving us. To share in his joy and pleasure is the greatest reward. As Calvin wrote: ‘The theatre of God is in the hidden corners.’2
Apply
Consider the practical challenges of this passage. How generous are we to those in need? How private are our gifts?
Closing prayer
Help me, Lord, to ask and answer the hard questions about my giving to those in need. Please help me so that my giving is not only generous, but my motives are pure.
1 Scot McKnight, Sermon on the Mount (Zondervan, 2013), 155 2 Quoted in McKnight, 157.
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