Through The Bible in a Year - June 8, 2026

"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven…. When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…. When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.... When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others." - Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Even if you can't measure up to God's perfect standard, maybe you can impress him or others by showing you are trying really hard to be as good as you can?

So, you give generously, pray fervently, fast faithfully – and make sure that you can be seen doing such.

But Jesus says: "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father."

When you give, don't sound a trumpet. Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

When you pray, don't stand on street corners to be seen. Go into your room and shut the door.

When you fast, don't look gloomy so everyone knows how holy you are. Wash your face and anoint your head.

Your generosity, your prayers, your fasting—if they're done to be seen by others, you've already received your reward. Human applause. But that's it. That’s all you’ll get for the public show.

This is devastating. Not only can we not measure up to the standards of God, we don’t get credit for performing them well in front of others.

The message that Jesus is driving home with this lesson is not new. Comparisons don’t work with God. Showing off, or showing others up, doesn’t score points with God. "Men look on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart."

That standard forces us to ask if we are more interested in God's purpose or our reputation? Is our righteousness intended more to have others think highly of us, or to think more highly of the God we serve?

Respond: These words of Jesus may cause us to take a hard look at the motives behind the righteous deeds that we do. For example, when it comes to …

• Giving: When you give, is part of you hoping someone will notice? Hoping your generosity will be recognized? Hoping God will "owe" you because of your faithfulness?

• Praying: When you pray publicly, are you praying to God or performing for people? Would your prayer change if no one were listening?

• Serving: When you serve in church or the community, are you serving God's purposes or building your reputation?

Now we need to be clear, Jesus isn't saying don't give, don't pray, don't serve. He's saying: check your heart. God sees in secret. He knows your motives. And He only rewards what's done for His glory, not yours.

So, where does honest assessment of our motives leave us? In need of grace. Because there really is no way to give, pray, or serve without having aspects of our humanity creep into our motivations. At some level, we will always give to be appreciated, pray to be respected, and serve to be noticed. The Biblical response to that reality is not to stop giving, praying, or serving, but to rejoice that God’s grace cleanses our motives of their human imperfections so that we delight even more to give, pray and serve. And, the result is that our Lord gets even more glory from us and from those who observe what we have done out of love for Him.

Prayer: Father, I confess I can’t entirely keep my service to you from being motivated by what others think. I've wanted to be seen as generous, prayerful, faithful. I've wanted applause, recognition, reputation. Forgive me for sometimes making my service to you about me. So, help me to give without recognition, to pray in secret, to serve without acclaim. And, when I fail, wash my motives with your grace so that I am freshly appreciative of your unconditional love. And help me to know the profound satisfaction of doing things for Your eyes only so that you are the One who gets the glory. Help me to remember that there is no limit to what can be done for heaven’s purposes if it does not matter who on earth gets the credit. In Jesus' name, Amen.