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Giving that Pleases God
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Posted by FBC Tue Apr 22, 2008 14:32:22 PDT
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In the first verse of Matthew 6, Jesus makes a statement about being careful about how we, as citizens of the Kingdom, perform our righteous acts.  We are not to do them so that men will be impressed, but for God and His glory.  In other words, we are not to be hypocritical in our acts of righteousness.  Although Jesus speaks of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, it is obvious from a study of Scripture that they, the Pharisees, didn’t invent hypocrisy nor did it die with them. 

     Jesus begins to teach us in the first verse to be careful about how we perform our righteous acts because God is always watching.  And, if we do them to get “applause” from men we have our reward already.  God evaluates our acts based on our heart’s intent.  He goes on in verses 2-18 to give three illustrations of righteous acts that can be done to honor God or to receive the applause of men.  How we give, how we pray and how we perform spiritual disciplines can be done outwardly in very pious ways so as not to have spiritual impact at all.

     For instance, our giving ought to be done in such a way as to be spontaneous; giving to the needs that God makes us aware of.  For the Kingdom citizen, it has been said, “God is looking for those who He can give tremendous resources to and have none of it stick to their hands.”  But giving should be done in such a way that the building of God’s kingdom takes precedence over everything else.  We should give to assist the poor, but to give them a hope of a better life in Christ, not a band-aid for a “sore” that will never be healed.  We should give to missionaries but for the sake of assisting them in the proclamation of the Gospel to people who desperately need to hear of Christ’s love and sacrifice.

     Without doubt, there are countless causes to give to in this world, but for the Kingdom citizen, the cause of Christ takes precedence over everything we do.  And giving to His local church is the place for the Kingdom citizen to begin.

     Where’s your heart?

 

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