Humble Pie

Scripture I'm reflecting on:  Matthew 6:1
     "Watch out!  Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admited by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven."

Reflection:
This is a shorter writing than usual, as Jesus' command here is self-explanatory.  I however find this to be one of the hardest tasks we face as Christians, at least for myself personally, so I make sure to re-read this section as much as I can remember to do so.

When we do something good, it is natural to want to tell people about it.  It's natural to be proud.  It's even natural to want to impress those important to you by telling them of your act.  And I don't think doing any of those things is a grave wrong.  But it is something we should try to avoid.  The Bible is ripe with teachings of humbleness and humility, and this verse is as clear a teaching on this principle as it gets.

While humbleness is very difficult, it is also a great opportunity.  This is our chance to take one step closer to living as Jesus lived.  How easily could Jesus have impressed the masses by showing off his miracles and prophecies.  But He didn't, and we should strive to do the same in our own lives.  It feels great to be recognized for the good things we do.  Whether its a good deed, charity donation, or something of the like, no one can claim that they don't get a warm feeling when their good acts are recognized by others.  But Jesus warns us against tooting our own horn and broadcasting our deeds to those around us....and not without good reason.  By tooting our own horn, our motives for doing the good deed come into question.  Did we do a good deed because we are walking in the God's glory, or did we do so (even if just partially), for acknowledgement, or to impress someone?

I always come back to a question I heard in a sermon to remind myself of this principle.  Of the two scenarios, who do you think God is more impressed by?  Someone donating a million dollars to charity to lower their tax bracket, or someone giving their last dollar to someone in need on the street corner?

Final Thought:
I spent a good majority of my life making sure people knew anytime I did something good.  This went as far as including little things like making sure people knew I cleaned the dishes or picked up a piece of garbage.  I realize now however that there was no real gratification in doing this.  Doing things just to impress someone doesn't provide you with any "reward" in the long run.

I have done a few things over the last month that I would love to broadcast to certain people in my life, certain people I would so desperately like to impress, and who I believe would be impressed if they knew.  It's been a difficult thing not to revert back to my old ways of "slipping into conversation" these acts I've done.  But reading this verse makes it easier for me to remain humble, as we are commanded to do and keep my acts to myself.  And by doing so, I've proven to myself that my motives were good and pure, which I have found far more rewarding than announcing my good deeds to others.

Jesus closes this teaching by saying by saying "Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."  This alone should be enough for us.  God's reward is what we all seek.  And I have found through changing my own behavior that this reward is so much more gratifying than any "reward" I would've gotten from trying to impress people in my life.

By following this verse, we ensure that our motives for doing things... whether it be charity work, helping out others, sacrificing something for the benefit of the other, or something similar... are the right motives that God expects and rewards.  And knowing that God rewards humbleness should be all the motivation we need to be inspried to keep our motives for doing good pure, and to not feel the need to announce our deeds for our own gratification.