How to ruin GENEROSITY by what happens in your HEAD S31e73 Mt6:1

We can even ruin generosity by congratulating your right hand of giving with your left hand of pride.

We must be careful, because thinking of ourselves too highly, is maybe just ½ a step away from thinking about God too lowly.

Don’t ruin generosity by what can happen when your personal pr department starts tooting its own trumpet.

Listen 6 ½ minutes to get this right. 

https://youtu.be/B6EcjlIBFuE

Transcript

How to ruin generosity by what happens in your HEAD S31e73  Mt6:1 

Yesterday we started with righteousness in action and giving, and the way to be doing it the right way.  

We are to be careful to sound no trumpet about our giving

         Before the Synagogue or in the Church

         Before the Streets

That they may be praised by others.  There, the reward is the praise of others, but in so doing, there remains no reward from your Father in heaven. Treasure the sweetness of a reward from Him

Caught my eye and heart today as I was thinking about this:

         Sound no trumpet before YOU, your self.

         I understand puffing up yourself  before the people of the church and before the people of the world.  

         BUT Also in this passage is a warning to oneself. 

6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have noreward from your Father who is in heaven. 

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

Yes, Sound no trumpet before the people of the church and the people of the world .  But also: Sound no trumpet before yourself.  

I think this born out in our passage by the care you are supposed to have when giving to the needy.  It says When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

         I think, He’s saying: don’t proclaim this amongst the highways and byways of yourself..  

Compartmentalize this even amongst YOURSELF.

Be careful how you advertise yourself EVEN within yourself

Put some handcuffs on the internal PR department that runs 24/7:

proclaiming:I’m OK. My motivations are untainted. My giving is pur

         There is no way I could be giving to the needy in a way that isn’t saintly, or

         Of course I am giving to the less fortunate in the right way: without pride, without self aggrandizement, without selfish incentive.

         I think the scriptures here caution us even in the way we think about OURSELVES.

         Why? If we think of. Ourselves wrong, we could be thinking about Godin the wrong way. Only ONE can be on the throne

         I’d speculate that thinking of ourselves too highly is less than  ½ a step away from thinking about God too lowly.  

Our Father sees our right ACTS and our right MIND motivations

His concern here is WAY higher than our concern-might not even cross our minds

Perhaps we should be MORE concerned than we ARE about this.

         Move from “I could Never be doing the good things I do wrongly” to “You know, when I think about this, I probably AM doing this wrong before you God.

What if we listened and heard, the chastisement of the Lord:

         Be careful here.  Be cautious in how you do even good things

         Don’t be writing a narrative for the world, or the church

         But also: don’t be thinking too highly of yourself to yourself

Rom 12: 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned

I gotta not be conformed to the world here.

I have gotta swim aginst the tide of the love yourself movement

I need to work of the renewal of my mind even in the area of generous giving to the needy! Much less everything else. 

Specifically: for EVERYONE DO NOT think of yourself more highly than you ought.

         Remember who is boss of the world and boss of your life

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Conclusions: Let’s say you are going to give something in a sacrificial way. Perhaps it is money, or actions such as service.  

Be careful how you think about yourself.  

Your PRIDE PR department is going to be tempted to start a campaign of self adulation in the world, and in the church and even in your own head.

Don’t fall for it. but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned

 Your generosity is founded on the fact that God has been generous to you

He has given you the gifts of faith that you are now exercising in this practical way

         Watch yourself to the point of how you think about yourself 

do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.

Don’t be congratulating your right hand of giving with your left hand of pride

Keep Treasuring the sweetness of a true reward from Him

Careful, because thinking of ourselves too highly is less than  ½ a step away from thinking about God too lowly.  

Pull the reigns way way back in your mental math of how great you are. But, let the reigns OUT as to the greatness of God.

         He’s the source of Faith, of changed hearts toward generosity.

Don’t buggar this up by falling into a pride trap.

Don’t ruin generosity by what can happen when your personal pr department starts tooting its own trumpt