Don't Do Your Good Deeds Publicly, To Be Admired By Others, For You Will Lose The Reward From Your Father In Heaven
Nothing Is Worth Losing Your Soul
MATHEW 6:1-4
“”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.
”Matthew 6:1-4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.6.3.NKJ
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It’s easy to give with mixed motives; to do something for someone if it will benefit us in one way or another. But Jesus, when telling us not to tell our left hand what our right hand is doing, was teaching us that our motives for giving to God and others should be pure and selfless, out of selfless love.
It’s easy to do good when we receive payment, or recognition or praise. But if our motives are pure, we will have no reason to tell others of our good deeds.
To be certain that our motives are selfless, we should do our good deeds in secret, with no thought of reward.
Jesus tells us to check our motives in three areas: Generosity (6:4), prayer (6:6), and fasting (6:18). Those acts must be God centred, not self-centred.
Our service to God and others must not be about making us look good, but rather, to make God look good, to lift Him up in honour and glorify His holy name.
The rewards God promises are not so much material, but you can be certain that however secret your actions, thoughts, and motives, good or evil, He sees them all.
The truth is, their is always consequences for our actions, both good and evil. “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.”
Luke 8:17 NKJV
If we are to keep our motives pure, we must constantly discipline ourselves, for ““The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10 NKJV
Our hearts my beloved, being part of our flesh, and is set on satisfying its lust, must be constantly disciplined.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Galatians 5:16-17 NKJV
My beloved, those sinful lust must be put to death, so that we are free to walk in the Spirit.
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Romans 8:12-17 NKJV
When one is saved, God’s Holy Spirit joins with his spirit and shall remain with him forever (JOHN 14:15-18).
The Spirit manifest Himself through one’s flesh to do good works, and out of his belly/ heart shall flow living waters (JOHN 7:38).
When one slips back into sin, the Holy Spirit retreats from flesh and convicts repentance from within, and remains joined to his spiritual.
It then feels like the God has left us, like we are alone in the wilderness, until we submit and come unto repentance.
It is at that time, when the Spirit has retreated from our flesh, and the demonic are able to enter, not our spirit, for it has been made perfect, but rather they enter the flesh that shall one day perish and be changed with incorruptible bodies (1 CORINTHIANS !5:50-53) But for now, if we let them, they makes our bodies there home.
The battle is in the soul, our mind, will and emotions, but I tell you truly, nothing is worth losing your soul (MATHEW 16:26).
Like squatters they enter, and deliverance is needed to remove them.
James put it like this, saying, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
James 4:7-10 NKJV
Submit: Turn from the sin that let them in.
Resist the devil: Don’t not fall to his temptation, but rather turn from it, and command these devils to come out and they shall flee from you.
Having said that, keep them out, for Jesus told us, ““When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.””
Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV
Then my beloved, the whole process starts again.
The battle between the flesh and the Spirit is very real.
Even Paul struggled with sin, not understanding himself, that he done the sinful things he did not want to do, and failed to do what he ought.
But he went on to say, that it was not him doing the sinful things, but the sin living within him that done it.
But who would deliver him from this miserable life?
As he said, thank God for Jesus, would deliver him (ROMANS 7:15-24).
My beloved, sin, including wrong motives, lets the devil in, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:18-24, 26 NKJV
If one is led by the Spirit, he is not under the law, for Jesus paid our debt of sin, past, present, and future, and he is saved and the fruits of the Spirit shall be displayed: Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against such things there is no law.
I tell you the truth, “Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies (PSALM 41:1-3).”
What are your motives for service to God, or helping someone in need? Is your help and service a loving sacrifice? Or does your heart have a hidden agenda?
Pray: Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way of everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
