Matthew 6:1, commentary and pictures

Christ's word warns against performing righteous deeds and acts of charity in public in order to be seen, noticed and praised by others, exposing self-glory and self-love as contrary to His spirit and as breaking the law. It does not forbid generous giving being seen openly, but condemns display for personal glory while calling for liberal giving that leads others to glorify God. Giving is to be done sincerely from pity and love for sufferers, quietly without seeking notice or honor, for God's glory in humility, for Heaven values the kind heart and pure motive that sanctifies the act. Work done to win human approval and a great name receives that earthly praise as its only reward and has no reward from the Father in heaven, for God judges giving by motive and deeds praised by people may be recorded as selfish. In contrast Christ Himself shunned human praise and worked quietly in selfless mercy without exalting Himself, and those who humbly help the poor and afflicted without seeking praise stand under God's inspection and He will reward their service.

Sermon Setting and Terms

The saying belongs to the Sermon on the Mount, spoken especially to the disciples while the assembled multitude also heard it. There the principles of a kingdom of divine grace were set out, not promises of earthly glory or political deliverance. That sermon opposed the self-righteous doctrines and practices of the scribes and Pharisees and corrected their misrepresentation of God.

The sixth chapter of Matthew holds lessons not yet learned that must order life. Its teachings are to be applied personally and shown in daily life. They are to be set before congregations concerning the work to be done in the churches, to encourage genuine trust in Jesus Christ in days of peril and real trials. Trials are to be borne loyally without failing or being discouraged, together with not judging and with the simple form of prayer Christ gave His disciples. Speaking modestly, hiding self in Christ, and letting Christ make the impression belong to showing these lessons daily.

The verse calls for more diligent study of the Scriptures, holding them not as a make-believe story but as the truth of the living God, the foundation of faith and the assurance on which hope of eternal life in the kingdom of heaven is built. Every gift received comes from God, and when this is recognized and gratitude for divine goodness fills the heart, a heavenly atmosphere surrounds the soul. It expresses the heavenly Father's requirement that His people walk in the light He gives and render perfect obedience to His commandments, which are always reasonable and just. Failure to walk in the light given separates from God, and darkness comes in the same proportion as light has been permitted to shine upon the pathway. It shows the far-reaching principles of God's law that the state of the heart regulates life and character, so that instruction in the claims of the law is lost unless the spirit of the law is in the heart.

True Meaning and Motive

The verse warns against practicing righteousness and doing acts of charity and giving alms publicly for the purpose of being seen, noticed, and praised. Seeking self-glory in this way, even while claiming to honor God's law, exposes self-love as the real motive. That motive is contrary to Christ's spirit and is transgression of the law. Acts of charity done for people's praise receive no reward from the heavenly Father.

The warning is against giving charity to win people's praise, not against doing charitable work openly or giving generously. Those who publicly advertise their gifts to appear noble have already received their reward in human approval, as the following verses explain. The verse does not require charity to be hidden so completely that little is done, nor does it make hiddenness an excuse for giving little. It condemns display for the sake of glory, while other texts call for generous giving. Humble use of means to advance God's cause may be seen when good works lead others to glorify God, and such self-denial can testify to unbelievers that the givers are genuine Christians with genuine motives. Genuine generosity is marked by self-denial and concern for saving others, not by seeking fame or a great name, and giving should meet nearby needs including helping the poor, widows, and afflicted through kind acts and fair prices and wages. Giving for public acclaim can also conceal selfishness and be tied to exploiting the poor and to money gained by oppressing them.

Alms are to be given sincerely, from pity and love for those who suffer. They are to be done quietly, without attracting notice, praise, or honor, but for God's glory, in penitence and humility. Heaven values a kind heart and wholehearted devotion, and service motivated by love. A pure motive sanctifies the act, and benevolent acts take their proper form when done without display. Unobtrusive charity is a mark of genuine religion, and its value rests on the motive behind the act, with the reward expected from God.

Charity done to win people's approval and a great name receives that human praise and earthly honor as its only reward and receives no reward from the Father in heaven. Fame and human praise are not true happiness. God judges acts of giving and other good works by the motives behind them, not by human applause. Deeds praised by people may be recorded by the Searcher of hearts as selfish and hypocritical, and every act, whether praiseworthy or blameworthy, is weighed according to its motive.

Good works lose their reward from God when they are done to draw attention to self and to live for other people's opinions. Talking about and magnifying one's own deeds, while keeping Jesus in the background, puts self forward instead of giving God the glory. Generosity and good works become a means of seeking human praise when they are paraded for notice. Such self-exaltation grieves the Spirit and obstructs Christian usefulness. Work done instead as in the sight of heaven is directed toward God, not human recognition.

Hypocrisy It Exposes

At the first coming of Christ the Jewish nation as a whole had grown proud and boastful of its own righteousness, making religious profession very prominent in order to gain honor. Their giving of alms to be seen of men belonged together with making broad their phylacteries and uttering long prayers in public places. It was a formal religion consisting of ordinances and purifications, rites and ceremonies, prominent in appearance but not heartfelt, lacking heartfelt devotion. While thus displaying righteousness, they did not scruple to grind the faces of the poor and to take advantage of them in every possible way, so that outward religious acts did not make them truly righteous.

The priests, scribes, and elders broke this word by holding to an outward show of piety, zeal, and devotion while lacking personal piety and virtuous character. They gave alms and prayed in crowded synagogues and corners of the streets in the most public manner to call attention to self and to win notice and praise for devotion and piety. Their aim was to give impressions of their own importance and to make the people hold exalted ideas of their zeal and devotion to religious duties. Such display exalted self to gain applause and flattery, contended noisily with those differing in doctrine, and belonged with resentment, unforgiveness, pride, haughtiness, and bigotry.

That public religious display hid greed and lack of mercy and covered corrupt ambition and love of worldly honor and riches. They ground the faces of the poor and took advantage of them in every way, especially widows, orphans, and the fatherless. By laying heavy taxes they devoured widows' houses, exacted heavy sums on false pretenses for the treasury, took offerings for themselves, and appropriated the people's offerings to themselves. They used money taken under religious pretexts for their own advantage, and in so doing robbed God.

Such outward keeping of religious forms was only an outward show of goodness and not true devotion to God or sincere piety. When done to win people's notice and admiration in service of human honor or personal gain, it is hypocrisy. Charity done publicly to attract attention and praise brings no reward from the Father, and its doers are not made faithful or truly righteous.

Christ's Opposite Example

Charitable acts done to attract attention and admiration forfeit the reward of the Father in heaven. In contrast to such public charity, the opposite example is seen in Christ, who shunned human praise and quietly carried out works of mercy and benevolence. He did not draw attention to His own virtue, seek honor for Himself, or exalt Himself as the hypocritical religious leaders did by making their charity conspicuous to gain praise.

He did not seek applause nor display His devotion publicly, but served quietly and chose private places for prayer. He preferred solitude and peaceful retirement, withdrawing from noise and confusion, and prayed earnestly to His Father with prevailing intercession, cries and tears in lonely places and on mountains through the night. Those prayers were for strength to meet and endure temptation, to complete His saving work, and to save men, not to be seen by people. Then through the day He quietly resumed works of mercy and disinterested benevolence. His miracles were not performed for show, unlike acts driven by desire for human praise and honor.

His direction that the healed leper present the offering required by the law of Moses showed He was not opposed to that law.

Living Out the Teaching

The chapter containing this warning teaches contentment and yielding of the will to the control of the Holy Spirit instead of striving for place and position and reaching out for riches, honor, and recognition. The greatest desire it forms is to work in just the place God has assigned, where He can look with approval, rather than pushing others aside to make room for one's own plans. It forbids elbowing a fellow worker aside and displacing another to advance self.

Honor is still to be sought, but in the right way, by obedience to the word of truth, by honoring Christ at every step, and by revealing the fruits of righteousness. That right way shows itself in right words that bless and encourage, without hasty temper, cruel speech, or unkind thought, and without exalting one person and condemning another.

The Mount's exposition is the explanation of God's holy law in the pure gospel, setting the holy standard of character to love God with the whole heart and the neighbor as God requires. That standard demands right and holy methods in business transactions and forbids mingling human wisdom with the divine. It forbids confusing other minds about right methods, unjustly acquiring means at another's expense, and diverting means from its true object to serve ambitious designs and lust for gain and power. Those who do such things prove they have not yet learned the law and its explanation, and they need repentance and conversion, works worthy of the Christian name, and a cleansing and purging of the soul temple.

Its daily application is to speak modestly, hide self in Christ, and let Christ rather than self-display make the impression on others. It calls for meeting nearby needs by helping the poor, widows, and afflicted through kind acts and through fair prices and wages. Service to those in need is to be done without seeking human praise or a great name, in order to glorify God and advance His cause. Such humble workers stand under God's inspection, and God sees and honors their service and will reward them.