For Goodness’ Sake

Scripture

Matthew 6:1-4 NIV

“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Consider

It’s probably safe to say that most of our good deeds arise from mixed motivations. Yes, we want to please God. We care about people and want to treat them generously, with kindness and patience and respect. At the same time, however, we may offer our gifts to others in the hope of getting something in return: acceptance, admiration, a debt of gratitude, material gain. In that sense, we bestow our generosity with strings tied to our own well-being. Then, if our good deed does not benefit us in ways we think we deserve, we may feel disappointed, angry, or hurt.

Jesus cautions us to be careful about our motivations. We have a choice, he says, in the type of reward we seek. If our goal is to ingratiate ourselves with others, to enhance our reputation and garner admiration, then we may get what we ask for but nothing more. Popularity is a slippery slope. It promises a sense of personal worth yet all the while erodes it and distracts us from seeking our eternal value in God.

Gifts that are given in private, on the other hand, call attention not to the giver but to the gift. Whether a donation of money or goods given anonymously, or a kindness or sacrifice done without ceremony, the giving is motivated by our desire to please God and serve others. God promises to reward such efforts with the joy of his favor. Moreover, our recipient receives the priceless gift of unconditional goodness—an experience of our heavenly Father’s nature that shines through when our giving is truly selfless.

Pray

Gracious and Giving Father, through the life and death of your Son, you teach us what it means to love selflessly, and through his resurrection what it means to gain our reward in you. Help me to notice when I do good for selfish reasons, or when I feel angry and hurt because people are not rewarding me with the attention and respect I think I deserve. Show me ways to love in private and to look for my reward in your sweet fellowship.

Reflect

John 5:41-44; Romans 2:28-29

Ponder

In doing good for others, what might I hope to gain for myself?

Too Proud to See

Scripture

John 9:39-41 NIV

Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Consider

Jesus had just healed a man who had been blind from birth. Not only could this man now see in the physical sense, but Jesus had also restored his spiritual sight. The man, grateful and humble, now “saw” Jesus’ divinity.

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Practicing the Law of Christ

Scripture

Galatians 6:1-3 NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.

Consider

In this passage, Paul urges the Galatian Christians to show their love for one another by noticing when a fellow believer is in distress and to offer help.

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How to Deal with Mud-Churners

Scripture

Isaiah 57:15, 20-21 NLT

The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirits of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts…But those who still reject me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked,” says my God.

Consider

Have you ever known people who like to stir up trouble? You might live with such a person or encounter one at a family gathering.

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Go, So I Can Bless

Scripture

Genesis 12:1-3 NRSV

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Consider

We can easily make the case that these three verses in Genesis 12 provide the foundation for God’s great story of redemption.

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