"See Me?"

When you’re praying, fasting, givng,

Jesus said just what to do,

Do it for the Father,

Not to be seen it’s true.

For if it is for men’s praise,

And they are so impressed,

You’re feedin your own ego,

And won’t from God be blessed.

Don’t even let your left hand,

Know what happens on the right,

And He who sees in private,

Will fill you with His light.

It’s a special way of living,

Who gets credit you don’t care,

You only want the smile of God,

And pray it’s always there.

So listen well to Jesus,

And focus on what’s true,

When it comes fo acts of service,

It’s all for Him, not you.

“Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others…” (Mt. 6:1, NLT)

Jesus warned against doing things to be seen rather than for God’s glory. Everybody needs encouragement, and it’s impossible to do every good thing secretly. But Jesus is talking about our motives for doing acts of righteousness. And if it’s basically so others will praise us, we’re really off track. In fact all of life is to be lived for God’s glory, and when we do things like pray, give, and fast, it really needs to be about Him, not us. What if you’re never congratulated again? Would that be okay with you? What if people reacted negatively every time you did the right thing? Would you keep on doing it, or would you wait till they changed their minds and became more supportive? These are good things to ask ourselves. Here’s one more: how concerned are we about receiving credit for something good we’ve done, and how would we feel if someone else got credit instead of us? Freedom comes when we do not care, and even better, when we don’t even think about it any more. We are liberated to give Him all the glory.

Lord, deliver us from loving the approval and praise of men, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Tim Com, timcox.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Tim, and God bless you.