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. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4 ESV)
Is secrecy a good thing? Jesus says secrecy can be helpful when it comes to our spiritual practices. This is why he instructs us to go into our prayer closet to pray and admonishes us to not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing when we give to the needy. It’s easy to fall into the trap of letting our good deeds shine before men. I don’t think Jesus means a person can never share a good deed with others but if we find ourselves doing that regularly, it might be time to step back and question our motives for doing so.
If you struggle with habitually wanting praise for your good deeds, give this a try. Make an intentional effort to do some good deed but do it anonymously. Perhaps you may want to send someone who is financially strapped a gift of money. What a great idea but make sure to do it in such a way as not to give any sign of who the gift may have come from. Keep this good deed between you and the Lord. As Jesus reminds us, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Let our giving be done in secret.
If this proves to be a regular struggle for you, a good question to ask might be “Who is getting the praise for me serving in this way . . . me or the Lord?
You see, you’re valued and you matter not because of the good deeds that you’ve done but because of who you are. You belong to Christ. You’ve been adopted into his family. Nothing you can do will cause God to love you. He already does. So, let’s do good deeds in His name and for His glory.