< Matthew 6:1-15 >
“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
When hard times come our way, we must do all we are supposed to do, but we must first remember to pray.
In Matthew 6:1, the Lord says, “Be careful not to carry out righteous deeds to show off to other people. Otherwise, you will not be rewarded by your Father, who is in Heaven.” This means we should not show off our righteousness to others in our religious life. These words are for both those who are born again and those who are not born again yet. However, we, the righteous ones, should keep in mind this saying, “Be careful not to do righteous deeds to show off to other people.” The Lord said that if we carry out righteous deeds in order to show off to others, we would not be rewarded later by the Father, who is in Heaven.
We can find a common theme in today’s scriptural lesson. That is whatever we do, we should not do it in front of others in order to show off our righteousness. The Lord says that we should believe in Him and His Word in our hearts, and wholeheartedly do righteous work before God who sees in secret. This means that we should do something good from our heart rather than to show off. Only then will God the Father reward us, and we can receive the reward as God pays us back. In other words, if we live a life of faith only to show off, God will not have God’s approval. No matter how hard a man tries to do something good, it will not be approved if it is done to show off.
Then, is everything we do hypocritical, if other people come to know it? That is not so. Whether it is known to other people or not, if a man carries out righteousness because of his faith, that is done with his faith, and not to show off. Everything that is not done with faith and believing heart is hypocritical. It does not matter whether the other people happen to see our good deeds or not. In short, carrying out the Word of God before Him by faith is always approved God, but anything that we do in order to win others’ approval rather than God’s is showing off.
God will not reward the hypocritical faith, and therefore, we have to avoid such faith in our religious life. We have to keep in mind this teaching when we do a charitable deed or pray.
