Right Motives
Matthew 6:1-13, 16-18
Why do you do what you do for God and for others? Are you seeking self-gratification, or are you seeking to be the servant that God wants you to be? We sometimes miss God’s blessings because we are doing acts of kindness for the wrong reasons. Jesus said that when people give a gift to a beggar and brag about it, they are acting like hypocrites and they have received all the reward they will get. When we help someone, we need to do it secretly – and our Father, who knows our hearts, will reward us. Acts of kindness should not be self-centered, but God-centered.
Jesus told His followers not to be like the hypocrites who pray to be seen by others as holy and righteous. Jesus was not against public prayer; He opposed public prayer for show or to impress men. The scribes and Pharisees loved to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues so people could see how religious they were. Jesus said they had their reward. As believers, we should go into our closets and pray secretly, and the Lord will hear and reward us. He knows what we need before we ask, but He wants us to ask.
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught believers to pray directly to our Heavenly Father, who is worthy of praise and deserves reverence. God is not only powerful and holy, He is also caring and loving. We are to pray sincerely from the depth of our hearts. We should not use His name lightly. When we ask that His kingdom come, we are asking for His kingdom to come in its fullness and glory in our lives as it is in heaven.
In asking for our “daily bread,” we are acknowledging our total dependence on God for all of our daily needs. As His followers we are to ask Him to forgive our sins as we have forgiven those who have wronged us.
As Jesus’ followers, we need to ask for strength so that we will not commit future sins. God does not tempt people, but He does test their faithfulness. God will not lead His people to face tests or trials that will cause them to be unfaithful to Him.
Fasting is a religious practice that must come from the right motives or it loses its effectiveness. When the hypocrites fasted, they looked sad and disfigured their faces to draw attention to their fasting. Jesus said they had their reward. Jesus taught His followers that when we fast, we are to anoint our heads and wash our faces so we do not appear to be fasting – and God, who knows our hearts, will reward us openly.
Johnston– Lessons in the BSL series for the fall quarter are being written by Virginia Johnston, a member of First Baptist Church, North Charleston, where her husband Dan is pastor.