Guard Your Heart

Jesus spoke seriously about what happens inside the heart. In Matthew 6:1, He said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.” His warning reaches the intention that can hide behind an outwardly good action.

A person can be involved in something good while seeking approval. Someone can serve while hoping to be noticed. A calling can also be used as a way to gain influence. This danger often grows quietly, because motives can be hidden inside actions that look spiritual.

God sees what others cannot see. In 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord told Samuel, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Samuel was looking at the appearance of Jesse’s sons, but God showed him that His eyes reach deeper.

Serving God begins with sincerity before Him. Motive matters. When someone serves to be seen, the service loses its spiritual meaning, because God is no longer at the center.

So the question still matters: why do I want to serve? That answer needs to be brought before the Lord with honesty. A heart shaped by God learns to serve with truth, even when no one is watching.

1 ¶ ‹Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.›

2 ‹Therefore when thou doest› [thine] ‹alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.›

3 ‹But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:›

4 ‹That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.›

7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.