A Heart Matter

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.

Matthew 6:1

The law of the Old Testament was all about outward obedience.  Many of the Israelites maintained this outward obedience, but their hearts wandered far from the Lord.  Something more was needed.  Jesus brought a higher and better obedience.  His was a willing obedience from the heart.  I would go out on a limb and say that the majority of the New Testament deals with this “heart obedience.”  We can do things correctly outwardly, but the true test comes when our hearts become involved.

This verse is about giving and there are two types of giving possible here.  First, there is the type of giving that is done “before men” and done to be “seen of men.”  That type of giving satisfies “the law.”  We are commanded to give and, whatever our motivation, we have given.  But that is where the law ends and the righteousness of Jesus begins.

Giving just to show others what great and generous Christians we are is its own reward.  When we give to be seen of men, we have our reward.  We are not giving out of a heart of love for the Lord Jesus, but for our own vanity.  On the other hand, when we give, we are told to give secretly, not even letting the left hand know what the right hand is doing.  That is giving from the heart.  And that is fulfilling not the law of the Old Testament, but the higher law of the New Testament.

Nearly every situation is similar to this one.  Two people can do the exact same thing, but they can do it for different reasons and have entirely different motives.  It is not always the action that the Lord is looking at, but He is always looking at the heart.  Where is our heart today?