But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. And your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.
(Matthew 6:3-4 TLB)
When Jesus says not to tell your left hand what your right hand is doing, He is teaching us that our motives for giving to God and to others must be pure. It is easy to give with mixed motives, to do something for someone if it benefits us in return. To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity, prayer, and fasting. Those acts should not be self-centred but God-centred, done not to make us look good but to make God look good. The reward God promises is not material, and it is never given to those who seek it. We must ask ourselves would we still do these good deeds if no one would ever know about it?
Prayer
O my precious God, I rely upon the Holy Spirit of God, to show me the right way You want me to act. I desire my motives with others to be pure and in the centre of God's will. When I do something for others, let it be governed and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, with Him showing me the right thing He wants me to do. Do not let me do anything in my own will and strength, let everything I do be in the strength of God, through the Holy Spirit of God; bringing all the glory, honour, and praise to God in the precious name of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
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