Matt 6:1-4 “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. 2 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. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.”

Be on guard…be alert…be careful…watch out! We use these phrases to warn each other that something bad could happen if we continue down a particular path. Here Jesus is warning us of two dangers concerning giving publicly. The first being we may find ourselves giving to seek the admiration of others who may say things like “Look how generous they are,” “Look at what a good heart they have,” and “Look at how much they give.” The second danger is we then lose out on being rewarded by our God in heaven for our giving. Jesus made clear in this passage that this is what hypocrites do. They call attention to their giving and, therefore, receive no reward from heaven. They only get their shallow reward here on earth. Let’s do all our good deeds, including our giving, for the applause of heaven and not get caught up in doing things to be praised by people here and now.

Jesus goes on and makes clear that the best giving is done privately where not even our left hand knows what our right hand is doing. I became convinced early in my ministry that our giving here at FEC should follow this pattern and be kept private. This is the reason why we never put names on anything when people give to purchase them here at FEC…not pews, chairs, furniture, buildings or anything else. Jesus said our giving should be done quietly and privately.

Notice also Jesus said twice in these four verses “when you give.” He also says “when you pray” three times in the following verses while teaching about how to best pray. Jesus said when, not, if. The Lord expects His followers to give just as He expects His followers to pray. We are all called to give. We are equally blessed that we get to give to the Lord and His work. It is also true that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I encourage you to trust God with your giving, do it privately and see up close just how faithful God will be to meet every need you have.

Tim