Here is what I have for today:
Matthew 6:1-6
1 "Be careful! When you do good things, don't do them in front of people to be seen by them. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 "When you give to the poor, don't be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets in the synagogues and on the streets so that people will see them and honor them. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. 3 So when you give to the poor, don't let anyone know what you are doing. 4 Your giving should be done in secret. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you. 5 "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward. 6 When you pray, you should go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and he will reward you.
Maybe this all sounds like mumbo-jumbo, but it doesn’t to me. To me this means something very important.
We as Christians are different. We are different than other’s in the world. We stand out. We should stand out because of our light. We should stand out because we don’t do the things we used to do. We should stand out because of the love we have for others. People should be able to watch us & see Jesus through us & see that we are different.
In the case of the scripture above… these people are not standing out because of their “light”. They are standing out because they are “showing off” their “good deeds”. These people are self righteous! They want to be seen by everyone. They want everyone to see how “holy” they are. They do good things out in front of everyone purposely To.Be.Seen.
They blow trumpets in the streets when giving to the poor…
“LOOK AT ME!!!! I am so holy, I am giving to the poor!”
They stand on the street corners or in front of the church to pray loudly to make themselves look soooo holy.
Self righteousness.
Self righteousness in God’s eyes is ugly.
Need I say more?
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