Give in Secret: True Philanthropy of the Heart

Let’s continue down this journey of what lies in our heart that is behind our actions. Yesterday we talked about having to lofty opinion our ourselves and how that aligns with God’s views of our actions. Today, I’d like to take this a little further and talk about how we give and why. We live in a world of images and perceptions. The image that we put out to the world creates the perception others have of us. This can be a slippery slope when we are being charitable. You see, while our heart says give, Jesus says to do it in secret. “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.”“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 6:3-4 I get it, I feels good when we are recognized for our Philanthropy. And when others recognize our love of giving, it is absolutely ok to humbly take the accolades. Where we get in a situation with Jesus is when we seek the adoration of others for our works. It’s easy to fall into the trap, we live in a world driven by social media and excessive information. It reminds me of an old saying I’ve heard, “If you’re good, you don’t need to tell people...they’ll tell you.”We serve a Big God, do it in His name and from the heart. Be Nice, Grace wins,