Matthew 6:2–4
2“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Focused Thinking:
Context for Matt 6:2–4 is Matthew 5:48–6:1
Matt 5:48
“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matt 6:1
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
This is a side note but I think Matt 6:1 should have been the 49th verse of chapter 5 instead of the 1st verse of chapter 6. The more important issue here is to see the continuation of the thought process instead of the beginning of a new thought process with a new chapter.
What is the issue here?
We should not live for God to be seen by God.
Who sees or doesn’t see shouldn’t determine our obedience.
Righteousness is obeying God from a heart of love.
What should you do when you give to the poor?
Give to the poor to please God and to bless the poor.
“Do not sound a trumpet before you…”
“as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets.”
“so that they may be honored by men.”
“Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”
They impressed men but didn’t impress God.
- Hypocrites don’t impress God.
- Selfish acts disguised as generous acts don’t impress God.
- Giving is ultimately a selfish act when you do it to be noticed.
- This teaching proves that good works can be sinful works depending upon the intention of the heart.
Matt 6:3–4
3“But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
What should you do when you give to the poor?
“do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,”
Why?
“so that your giving will be in secret;”
Remember, righteousness is obeying God from a heart of love.
- You are obeying God as expression of love.
- You are obeying God because you love God.
- You aren’t obeying God to earn His love.
If you please God, it doesn’t matter who you displease.
If you displease God, it doesn’t matter who you please.
The more I love God, the more I love who God loves.
The more I love God, the more I love what God loves.
The more I love God, the less I love me.
The more I love others, the less I love me.
The more I’m noticed by God, the less I need to be noticed by men.
Personal Application:
How do I free myself from pleasing others?
By pleasing God, not people.
It is impossible to please everyone, even godly people.
I must not worry about pleasing others in my teaching.
I must not worry about pleasing others in my leadership.
I must do everything possible to be honest in my walk with God.
I must do everything possible to be honest in my marriage and family.
I must do everything possible to be honest with the elder team.
I must do everything possible to be honest with my close friends.
Holiness is spiritual honesty.
Hypocrisy is spiritual dishonesty.
The goal in life is progress, not perfection.
Ultimately, if I worry about pleasing people it will cause me to compromise pleasing God.
Churches unintentionally build selfish ministries built around their desires instead of their needs.
Pastoring is like parenting in the respect that you can’t give everyone what they want; you have to give everyone what they need.
I have to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always leading me out of my comfort zone and away from my selfish preferences.
Interactive Prayer:
Father, I love You. I love Your Word. I love how personal and real Your Word is everyday. Your Word never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for giving me Clyde Cranford to teach me how to spend time in your Word. Apart from Your Word and prayer I would have no chance at spiritual honesty. Apart from Your Word I’d have no chance to be the man that I am today. Give my children an intense passionate love for Your Word. Father, fill their hearts with Your truth. Give them the desire, determination and discipline to know Your Word and to live Your Word. I pray for Mark and Annika to be truthful with You and others in their innermost being. Father, I pray that You will give spouses who will love and live the word.
Father, I pray that our church will become people who are spiritual honesty. Build us into people who love and live the Word. Build us into people who desire to please You and please You alone. Build us into people who are generous. Make us a people who love the poor for all the right reasons. Make us a people who love people who are far from God.
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