Throne of Grace
We’ve all messed up.
We’ve all done things, seen things, and said things we regret. We’ve all sinned—ignoring God’s commands and rebelling against His ways. And we know it, too. This is because God gave us the ability to discern right from wrong. His Word reveals His righteousness and magnifies our lack and need for Him.
The bad news is our sin separates us from a holy God.
But the good news is Jesus has already bridged the gap.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, lived the perfect life we couldn’t and died the brutal death we should’ve—becoming the final and ultimate sacrifice. He’s paid our debt, cleared our names, and defeated death itself by rising back to life. And now, as the author of Hebrews suggests, we have an open invitation into His presence…
A Life of Generosity
As Jesus was teaching people, there was a group of leaders who were not always the best role models. When these people helped others, they would boast about it and tell everybody the good deeds they did. They made sure to flaunt their good works publicly for everyone to notice them.
Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6:3 is directly related to what these leaders were doing. Jesus says that when we give to those in need, we shouldn’t let our left hand know what our right hand is doing. Essentially, our goal in giving to others should not be recognition.
Jesus’ teaching is about the condition of our heart. If we’re giving to others for the sake of being recognized for doing good, then we’re not helping people with the right motives. This should not stop us from giving to others, but it should guide our motives for doing so.
When we help others, we should do so primarily for their benefit—not our own. This means there’s no need to broadcast it. Instead, we should have ...