Lesson One • Giving to Those in Need
Devotion 4: Earthly Rewards
Pastor John Carter
“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” Matthew 6:2
This is going to be a back-and-forth week. We first talked about what it means “to be seen” versus “unseen.” Now we are going to walk through the differences between earthly rewards versus heavenly rewards. Today’s focus is strictly on the earthly rewards that Jesus points us to in Matthew chapter 6. The conversation here begins with giving to the needy. I know the immediate thought is we are talking about financially giving to someone who is in need. I want you to consider other needs that may exist in someone’s life that are of significantly more value than money.
I can come up with a few: (See Romans 12:6-9 if you want to look up some other ways you might be able to give.)
- Need for companionship or friendship
- Need for encouragement
- Need for council or life direction
- Need for forgiveness
I think there are many ways in which the Spirit leads us to give and it is not always about money.
As we read the verse for today, we see Jesus giving examples of hypocrites who give in an outward and visible manner. Can you think of any current examples that might relate to this example in the Scriptures? How about when people announce how much charity they give to a certain disaster or cause? Maybe you have heard someone boasting about how they gave some good advice to someone and it helped them? If you really pay attention, you can actually see this kind of boasting all around.
As we stated earlier, the contrast between receiving a heavenly reward to that of an earthly reward is dramatic. Consider the differences between things that are heavenly and things that are earthly. Let us walk through the earthly things and evaluate them. James, Jesus’ brother, does a great job of walking us through the earthly motivations that might correlate to earthly gain.
In James 3:14-16, he wrote, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
Verse 14 kind of hammers it home. Now, when you re-read Matthew 6:2, you can see the motive of the hypocrites, worse yet they do it covered or shrouded in the cloak of godliness and righteousness. It is never fun talking about the difficult things in Scripture, often times as we reflect on ourselves and our own motives, we really need to be careful that we are not looking and operating with the earthly motives of selfish ambition. Take some time today and examine your motives and your heart. Ask God to show you where you have been operating and doing things to receive earthly rewards. Let me leave you with some more from James. May this encourage you as you walk through this passage of Scripture.
James 4:7-8 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”