Giving With The Right Motive

Giving

At one point, Jesus says, “But you, when you practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, in order that your charitable giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt 6:3–4). However, Jesus may not have meant that giving should always be done in secret.

In Matthew 6, Jesus deals with motives. He starts with the broad category of “acts of righteousness,” then moves to three such acts: giving, prayer, and fasting. It seems that Jesus did not intend this as an exhaustive list. He could have added others, such as Scripture reading or feeding the poor.

The most important verse, which sets up the entire passage, is the first: “And take care not to practice your righteousness before people to be seen by them” (Matt 6:1). The operative phrase is “to be seen by them.” Jesus is not saying that others should not be aware of our good deeds. Rather, He is commanding that we not do these things in order to receive people’s recognition. Jesus continues, “otherwise you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 6:1). The problem is seeking the reward from people rather than from God.

When someone gives in order to receive the praise of others, they get what they seek—public honor. But in getting what they seek, they will lose what they should really desire: God’s approval.

A closer look at Jesus’ words brings out this point: “when you practice charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, in order that your charitable giving may be in secret,” (Matt 6:3–4). Through this dramatic example, Christ commands that people give quietly and unobtrusively. Public recognition can clearly tempt people to give for the wrong motives (e.g., Acts 5:1–11). However, this does not mean that there is never a place for public giving.

Earlier in the same sermon, Jesus says, “let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). Here, Jesus commands that his audience let their good deeds be seen by others. This seems to indicate that there’s a time for giving to be seen—when it’s done at the right time and for the right reasons. There is a balance between this part of Jesus’ sermon and when he commands giving be done without the recognition of others. It seems that Jesus is concerned with motives.

In addition, if Christ established a principle in Matthew 6:2–4 that other people should never know what someone gives, then the early church violated it in Acts 4:36–37. There are also numerous passages that talk about specific people giving, with no indication that it was a private matter. Numbers 7 lists the names of donors to the tabernacle. First Chronicles 29 tells exactly how much Israel’s leaders gave to build the temple and then says, “the people rejoiced over their freewill offering, for with a whole heart they had willingly offered to Yahweh” (1 Chr 29:9). Philemon 7 likely refers to Philemon’s generous giving, and 2 Corinthians 8:2–3 refers to the Macedonians’ generous giving.

Jesus Himself also explains His principle further at a different moment. Witnessing a poor widow giving, Jesus used the woman’s actions as a public illustration about giving self-sacrificially (Luke 21:1–4). It seems that the woman’s motives were right—that she gave visibly did nothing to nullify her good heart.

Hebrews 10:24 tells us to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” The key, and Jesus’ point, is to let our motives be right. There are many times when giving without any recognition is necessary, but other times when public giving may be the right choice.