ALMSGIVING

Matthew 6:1-4 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly.

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men. The revised KJV uses the word righteousness instead of alms, while the NKJV translates alms as charitable deeds. Either of these other translations seems to be more appropriate because almsgiving is only one of the three acts of righteousness or charitable deeds that mankind often does in an ostentatious manner - to be seen. Other pious acts often performed for the wrong reasons are prayer and fasting, which are discussed beginning in verses 5 and 16 respectively.

We have many examples of almsgiving (See Acts 9:36, 10:2-4, 10:31, 11:29, 24:17). Paul teaches us the importance of almsgiving (See 2 Cor. 9:6-15, Gal. 2:10, Eph. 4:28, 1 Tim. 6:18-19). Also, consider 1 John 3:17. Almsgiving is, indeed, one of many righteous acts that children of God should practice daily. Jesus acknowledges this as recorded in Luke 12:33 and 13:29. But here, in the lesson text, Jesus tells us how almsgiving is to be performed to be acceptable to our heavenly Father. This righteous act is not to be done intentionally with the desire of being seen of others. Such deeds may serve a good purpose but the motive is sinful. Be assured, with every deed of righteousness and every act of worship you perform, Satan will be encouraging you to selfishly bring honor to yourself rather than glorifying God.

There is no contradiction between the teaching of Jesus in the lesson text and the principle He laid down when He said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven Matt. 5:16). Righteous deeds that we do, from time to time, should serve as examples to others to do the same. However, the motive for doing them must be to glorify God and not to bring honor to oneself. The "spotlight" created by our good deeds is to shine, not on ourselves, but upon God by which all goodness is made possible. Letting our light shine in almsgiving deeds is good,but shiningour own light to be seen doing so, is sinful in the eyes of God.Almsgiving is a wonderful Christian duty. The needs of others, whether physical or spiritual, should be constantly sought after, recognized, and zealously carried out to the best of our abilities. However, this duty is not to be performed for the unrighteous motive of self-acclaim, or for the applause and praise of others. No doubt good can be accomplished even if one's motives are corrupted by the covetous desire of praise. Telethons serve as good examples to prove this truth. The contributions to charitable organizations during various Telethons may serve a very good purpose. However, if these gifts are made just to hear your name announced as a donor, the motive is selfish and your reward will be only applause in this lifetime - there will be no eternal benefit from God.

Jesus gives us two ways to avoid unrighteous charity. First, we are not to "blow our own horn" to announce our gifts to others. Charitable deeds are not to be preceded with the sound of a trumpet. The world around us needs our example of charity, but they do not need the proof of our liberality by drawing attention to it with the sound of a trumpet or any other act of egotistic self-promotion. The glory of almsgiving must accrue to God, and to this end all Christians must be content. Another way to avoid unrighteous charity is to not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Certainly one should not advertise their almsgiving to others, but Jesus tells us here that we must not advertise it to ourselves - we are not to "keep score" of our own deeds of kindness. Ambitious desires, even within our own heart, must be subdued. There is no reward if the quantity of righteous acts is our goal. When one becomes a Christian, self-will is sacrificed to achieve God's will; we are not our own. To be acceptable to God, there can be no hypocrisy in our acts of almsgiving. God not only sees every act of charity we perform, but, most importantly, He sees each motive that is behind it. The inspired author of Proverbs wrote, He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will He pay him again (Prov. 19:17). God sees all righteous, secret acts of almsgiving; for these He will reward thee openly.