There’s a certain attitude that is not only not attractive, but also lacks humility. It’s something where we care so much what people think of us that we put ourselves on display when we do something noteworthy. It’s the kind of thing that is abhorrent when we see it in someone else but we sometimes fail to see in ourselves.
It’s something how we can sometimes have a blind spot to things like doing things for show. We may go and buy a new car because our neighbors bought a new car. There’s a pressure we feel, a competitions of sorts, where we think we have to keep up with them. And it may not even be that we think we need to better them. We may just be trying to be keep up with them. We can be trying to “keep up with the Joneses” without even realizing it. We end up going into debt to impress other people that we don’t even know. Some people may look at their neighbors down the street, with the three stall garage, swimming pool, and a boat to go to the lake on the weekends and think, “Wow, they must be really doing well.” We never really know the reality of the situation, though. They might be in debt up to their ears. The truth of the matter is that the neighbors with the humble abode, and a couple ‘paid for’ vehicles might be in the more enviable situation. Maybe they just took the ‘Financial Peace University’ course. Something they never teach us in school, by the way. And this is not to denigrate people who have the means and want to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Done with the right attitude, it can be a good thing. But what I’m getting at is the heart of why we do some things.
And it’s not just the “keeping up with the joneses” attitude. We can be doing some otherwise good things, but not think about why we’re doing them. Giving to a charity is a great thing. But then when we go broadcast it to the world, it’s just not quite as great. I mean the charity still appreciates it. And people still benefit from the dollars we give. It’s just in getting to the heart of the matter, I believe it matters why we do what we do. I believe motives matter.
I guess it should be enough for us to know that we have done the right thing, whether it be buying a new car or giving away some money. Sometimes we get such a limited view of things. The temptation to impress people can be pretty strong. We live and move around people all day long. Some may think, “Well, if I don’t impress people, then who can I impress?” Well, there is someone else for us to think about impressing. And this is way more important because other acquaintances generally don’t have much investment in our daily lives.
God is someone who is watching us and who is very concerned with our daily lives. He is more invested than other people will ever be. That makes it a good idea for us to be conscious of how God views our actions. And not just that, but wanting to be pleasing to Him. I believe when we are conscious, and aware, of God’s daily presence we will develop a heart of trying to impress God instead of people.
AV James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.” The Bible is clear that charitable acts are a part of the Christian life. We are to display kindness to others while, at the same time, not being corrupted by the world. But the Bible also makes clear these things we should be done without a certain pride, but in humility.
AV Matthew 6:3: “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:” What does it mean to ‘let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth’? Well, it means that we should do our charitable acts in private. We shouldn’t do these things with a consciousness of how we look to others. But we can even do some things in private and not to be seen of others. But we can still be doing them with a certain pride of self. We can be doing something good and, at the same time, be patting ourselves on the back.
AV John 4:24: “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” These things are a kind of worship. These things we do for others. When we do for others, we should be thinking of them as an act of worship to our God. This is also a part of ‘worshipping Him in spirit and in truth’. When we act with our hearts being right we are fulfilling the meaning of this verse.
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AV Colossian 3:23: “And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” The main idea is centered on this: we should do all that we do as an act unto the Lord. This encompasses so many things. It means we do things out of love, and that we give our best effort in these things, and that we don’t do things to be seen of others, and also that we don’t do these things out of pride. This is how we know we are doing thing with the right attitude and the right motives.
AV James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
AV Matthew 6:3: “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:”
AV John 4:24: “God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.”
AV 1 Corinthians 13:1: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become [as] sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
AV Colossian 3:23: “And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”