Practice of Giving
Introduction:
Scripture Reading:
Righteousness and Practices
However, the issue addressed here is a more specific kind of giving that was far more common and accepted as essential to personal piety in ancient Judaism and Christianity—giving directly to help the poor and needy. In a time and place with great poverty and subsistence living (like first-century Palestine) and no government assistance, the needs of the needy were met by the community.
Your Father sees in Secret
A. B. Bruce sums it up well when he writes that we are to ‘show when tempted to hide’ and ‘hide when tempted to show’. Our good deeds must be public so that our light shines; our religious devotions must be secret in case we boast about them. Besides, the end of both instructions of Jesus is the same, namely the glory of God. Why are we to keep our righteousness secret? It is in order that glory may be given to God, rather than other people. Why are we to let our light shine and do good deeds in the open? It is that people may glorify our heavenly Father