Matthew 6:2-4 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 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. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Why does Jesus talk about rewards for giving generously? Why not just encourage altruism? He knows us. Having created us, and been one of us, he knows us and our motivations intimately. If he had commended doing good acts for purely altruistic reasons, do good just to be good, help others just for them, give to charity just for the charity, we’d very quickly have found a way to make it about us. A reputation for generosity, or a feeling of goodness..we can make these our God...the source of our ultimate worth. This is what Christians have traditionally called sin...putting something earthly in God’s place. Generosity should be a good thing, but when it becomes our Gods, becomes pride and self-conceit. These can pretend to be better rewards than God himself. It's hard to avoid...human nature. Seems whenever we give, someone will notice. Either others notice, shower us with praise. Or, Even if we hide it from others, we shower ourselves with praise. Jesus’ claim is that these are small rewards in the grand scheme of things...and we’re wasting our time if we receive them, as we can easily believe we’ve been “paid in full” And so Jesus commends something different...do it just for God. Whether you give money, time, medical help, gifts, talents, whatever. Hide it from others, hide it from ourselves, and give to others because God loves them as his own children. Give in order so they will see God loves and values them…and wont’ even notice us. Our heavenly father sees this kind of thing – his children becoming more like him – and rewards it with his attention, himself, far more rewarding than the temporary attention of any human, even ourselves. In God’s presence, we realize that anything less, like worldly praise or feeling smug, was a poor substitute. Jesus can commend this because it’s his way. We now realize how spiritually poor we are. We’ve been accepting the applause of others & ourselves instead of God, we’ve let our pride and self-conceit replace him! But all the same, from the safety of heaven, as God the creator and sustainer, came to earth. He gave up his safety and majesty in the most selfless act possible. He died for us, and gained nothing but a restored relationship with us, a relationship that asks us to follow him into our own selfless acts of service. When giving is done for God and God alone, a much greater reward awaits…God! Challenge: What practical steps can you take to be more generous to others, and to keep the focus on God instead of yourself?

Related Topics: Generosity | More Messages from Ryan Sim | Download Audio

From Series: "Sermon on the Mount"

Discuss the Daily Challenge