When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He gave the people two commandments. He stated that they are to love God with all their hearts, minds, and strengths, and to love their neighbors as themselves.
We serve others as unto the Lord. Serving is about giving of ourselves in some way. It begins by loving our neighbors. Many times we enjoy the convenience of serving the nice neighbors rather than the ones we prefer to avoid. We tend to give of ourselves where we are appreciated or recognized for our efforts. Do we have a desire for people to be aware of our generosity?
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:1-4
God is generous and giving, and He expects His children to be generous as well. If we were to look at His generosity towards us, we find that He does it subtly and quietly. He models a generosity that is not showy. He does not advertise His giving from the rooftops nor does He pridefully reminds us of those great blessings.
If you have ever had an abusive person in your life, you know how people remind you of great things they have done for you in order to make you feel guilty. God does not do that for He is loving, patient, and generous with us, and It takes effort and attention for us to recognize all His blessings. He waits for us to come to the realization that He has been very good towards us.
In a similar manner, Jesus tells his disciples not to do their charitable work to be seen by men. If we truly love God and love people, our generosity comes from a heart of giving not a need to receive recognition for it. If we have a need to be seen by men, then we should think about our motive and the reason for doing it in the first place.
Everything we do must be done in faith because the scripture tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. If we seek to be seen by men, then we have received the earthly reward we were looking for. However, we will forfeit the pleasure and the reward of God because we did it to be seen by men rather than by God.
