Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, for then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven…. But when you do a kindness to someone, do it secretly—don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. And your Father who knows all secrets will reward you.
Matthew 6:1, 3, 4
The Living Bible
Yes, let’s all “take care” as the Bible text says in some English versions. The Master always took care to do good deeds and to set that example for us. It would be hard to (continued on page 3) imagine anyone doing as many wonderful deeds of goodness as Jesus; and yet if anything stands out in His work it is the fact that it was all done very publicly.
He was famous all over Judea, Samaria, Galilee, out along the Phoenician coast, across the Jordan eastward, and up into Syria. Huge crowds of folks swamped Him wherever He went (Matt. 4:23-25).
There is nothing inherently wrong with kindness becoming public; it is only when good works are done “to be admired”—for self-serving fame—that they get people into trouble and run the risk of cancelling out heavenly rewards. (more…)



