Be Humble Do Good In Secret And Let Your Reward Come From Above

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries, my name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you so much for being with us today. If you haven’t yet subscribed or followed us on whatever platform you’re taking in this content, please do so so you can stay updated and be alerted for future content that’s going to come out, whether you’re watching or listening somewhere.

Today we’ve got a great message for you. We’re talking about doing good. Not only doing good though, doing good in secret. We will dive into what that means today and how you can apply it in your life as a follower of Jesus.

As a Christian, we need to model what Jesus did. What did He do? Well, one of the things He did while He was here on Earth was doing good. He was always traveling around helping others. Whether He was healing them, comforting them, teaching them, casting out demons, feeding them, He was doing good.

Even before that, when He was growing up, He was a builder and so as He went through life He was probably helping people with their houses or with their projects or someone needed a stone foundation put in or someone needed a table or whatever.

He was a craftsman. He was creating things here on Earth. Interesting. He was creating and building kind of like His father was a creator. Another lesson there. That’s a whole nother sermon, maybe we’ll get to that one someday.

But you need to be like Jesus. What was He doing? The heart of all of that was helping others. We’ve talked about that, on how it’s important to help others. You could check that out in a card up here. But today we’re talking about specifically doing good.

Now before we dive deep into that, we need to look at what good means. Now for the word “good” or the definition of “good,” all we need to do is look at the Bible. Right here the definition of “good” can be found there. In the beginning, when God created everything, the heavens and the Earth, and all of this stuff, He said it was good. Therefore what’s “good”? It’s something that God creates.

So when you’re doing good, we’re not God, we’re not creating that, but we need to model that. That’s why we fast forward all the way and we look at Jesus and we say “All right, we can’t create like God created, but Jesus was here creating so we can create like Jesus created.” We can do good and that’s what we need to do. We need to model what Jesus did.

Now can you go around casting out demons and having people stretch out their hand and healing paralytics and making people walk and blind people see and deaf people here? Maybe. Maybe you have that gift and if you do, you need to be using it. But if not, you can do the other things Jesus did.

What did He do? He taught. He gave several sermons, that’s what I’m doing. What else did Jesus do? He fed people, He fed thousands and thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands of people. You could feed people.

He comforted them, He was with them, He was there for them, you could do that. He mentored, He counseled, you could do that. He pastored, He shepherded, He discipled people. You could do that. There are so many things that Jesus did that were good that you could do, so take a look at His life and do the good that Jesus did.

That’s kind of the preface, the basis of what’s good. What can we do now? You can do all that, and that’s good. But there is something more of course. As we know, Jesus likes to take things one step further.

He says “Hey, follow the law of Moses, don’t murder.” “Yeah, no problem, I haven’t murdered.” “I’m gonna take it a step further. If you think about it, you have committed murder in your heart. Don’t even do that.”

Oh man, Jesus takes things one step further. We’ve talked about this in several sermons. He says, “Hey you’re supposed to give 10 or 20 percent.” According to the Old Testament, there are different tithes for people,

He says, “What I want you to do is give everything.” He told people, “If you have two cloaks, keep one, give the other.” 50%. He told people, “Give everything, sell all you have, and give it to the poor.” Everything.

He takes it a step further and we see this time and time again. Jesus is always raising the bar. It’s not enough to simply do good. All we need to do is believe in Jesus, but as an act of love toward our savior, we want to do what He tells us to do, what He asks us to do.

We have a choice, but I want to choose to follow Him. I want to choose to do whatever He says because I love Him so much and I respect Him so much and I say, “Whatever He wants of course is what I want. Because He knows better than me so that’s what I want.”

He says “Do good, follow me.” Okay, I’m doing it. He also says though, “Hey take it that step further, do good without even being recognized for it.” You’re like, “Man that’s hard. What do you mean I have to do good?” Humanistically our human nature when we do good, when we do something, when we achieve something, we accomplish something, we want to be recognized.

It’s all through life. We look at Olympians, they train for decades. Train, train, train, thousands and thousands, ten thousands of hours, blood, sweat, pain, tears, all kinds of stuff they go through, getting yelled at, pushed to the emotional brink and what are they training for? Reward. They are training to win that medal. All that hard work, all that stuff. Yes, it’s worth it, I have a gold medal.

We’re taught that what we do needs a reward. Now that’s of course a very extreme example, but even as kids we have reward and punishment gratification. Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, psychologically we’re wired that if we do something, we want recognition. At your job, you want to be recognized for the work you do.

Jesus says, “Take it that step further, do those good things but don’t be recognized for them.” You say “Whoa that’s hard.” How do we know this? Let’s dive into the Bible. Let’s get in there. A lot of you are watching and you’re probably thinking about this stuff and pondering, and you’re like, “Wow.”

Maybe you’re thinking of several Scriptures in several instances that could go with this. That’s awesome. That’s our goal. We want you to have a more in-depth knowledge of the Scriptures of the Bible, so make sure to continue tuning in and if you have not watched our other sermons spend some time diving into those as well.

But right now, we’re turning to Matthew Chapter 6. I love this chapter, it’s a great chapter. Matthew is a great book. So take your Bible, dive in with me. Of course, if you can’t right now, listen along and later on come back and read the Bible.

Matthew Chapter 6, we got to do all kinds of things, Jesus says “Do a lot of things in secret.” Why? Well because God loves humility. He wants us to be humble in all we do. We don’t go around bragging, “Hey you see what I did? I just donated some money to that charity, to Social Media Ministries, yeah I gave them money, they bought a new Bible because of me, I gave him that.”

No, we don’t do that. God wants us to be humble. We have to do that in secret, give in secret. We have a whole sermon on giving in secret. You can check that out.

Matthew 6:3-4, that’s our verse here. Matthew 6:3-4 says, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be done in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you openly.” If you do things not in secret, but you do them for other people to see, that’s your reward.

That’s it. Your reward is on Earth, you’re doing good, you get recognized on Earth, God says that’s your reward. But if you do it and you’re not recognized on Earth, then your heavenly Father who sees what’s done in secret will reward you. Guess what, I want the reward from my Father. I don’t want some earthly reward.

I go do something and they say, “Here you go, here’s a million dollars for your charity, for your ministry, congratulations.” Or if I don’t get that million dollars, but God says, “I’m going to give you a heavenly reward.” Guess what, keep that million, I’ll take God’s reward any day. Because it’s going to be so much better than anything that comes from Earth.

Now let’s be real, of course, we are humans, we want both. I want the million for this ministry and I want the heavenly reward, but guess what, God says if you follow me and you seek after heavenly things, all these earthly things will be given to you as well. So in some cases, in a lot of cases, you can have both. It’s just what you want. Are you chasing first God or are you chasing the earthly reward? Chase God.

Now what else? We are to fast in secret. Matthew 6:17-18, “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show people that they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

That’s it. They have already been rewarded. That was Verse 16. Verse 17, “When you put oil on your head, wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

God wants you to do these things in secret with a humble heart and a humble attitude. Make sure that you’re being rewarded by Him, not by people on this Earth. He wants us to do good in secret.

Matthew Chapter 6 Verses 1 and 2, getting a little excited here, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before people to be seen by them.” This is the kicker, “If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Okay, wait a minute, so for fasting and for giving to the needy, you do them in front of people you get rewarded on Earth, that’s your reward in full. That’s your reward in full if you do these acts before people. Jesus says you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Wow, so when you give to the needy, when you do these acts of righteousness, don’t announce it with trumpets. Don’t say “Yep, I did that, I fed those people, we gave away five thousand pounds of food to help the food shelf, the hurricane victims, the tornado people, any of these disasters, we did it, we gave it all, I supported that.” Ten thousand pounds, five thousand pounds, one can, whatever, that’s your reward.

Don’t announce it with trumpets, if you do, no reward from your Father in heaven. “Do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by people. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

Do you want a heavenly reward? Do you want an earthly reward? Do good in secret. If you do these good things so that other people can see and praise you for your good works, you’ll have no reward from God. It’s very clear. Several verses just said this in Chapter 6. I would love to read this whole chapter out loud right now and show you, but it’s a long chapter.

Matthew Chapter 6, there are 34 verses. Now we could of course just read the first few sections, but I want you to do that. Basically, look, if you’re going to be honored by people, “I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

Okay, that’s crazy, they’ve received their reward in full, they’ve received their reward in full. If you do these things for other people to see, that’s your reward. Do good in secret.

Now what about if you do something and it’s in your heart that you’re not wanting to be recognized, you don’t want recognition, but then whoever you do it for says, “We want to recognize you.” Are you to be like “No, no, please don’t because then I’ll not get a reward from heaven?” No, you need to be polite and respectful.

For example, if you said, “Spencer, we want to donate a big sum of money to your charity so that you can do more outreach. We want to give you ten thousand dollars.” I’m gonna be like “Wow,” we want to recognize you and honor you. We want to recognize your heart. We want to recognize your devotion to God because you’re not doing this for Earth, you’re doing this to advance the Kingdom.

So we would want to recognize you for that. We would like to thank you for that. If you say, “All right, I don’t want anything public.’ You can mention what I did or whatever, then that would be that, but someone wants to recognize you for your acts of service.

Or if you do so much good in your community that the community comes together, the township or the city, and says, “We want to present you with a plaque or a reward of some type, an award at our next meeting or council meeting,” you need to humbly and graciously accept because that is also an act of doing good by accepting that.

But you’re not going to go out and be bragging about it. “Yep, they’re giving me an award next week. I do so much good they’re giving me an award.” No, that’s not the attitude. The attitude is humble, humility.

If someone wants to honor you publicly on earth, accept it, don’t be bashful about it. Don’t deny them that, because by recognizing you, you’re allowing them to show appreciation which is good.

God wants us to appreciate other people. He wants us to say thank you. He wants us to be grateful. After all, we are to be grateful to Jesus for dying for us. Jesus was grateful for everything that God gave Him. We are taught to pray in the whole Bible with thanksgiving. To pray with thanksgiving.

So if someone wants to thank you for the good that you do, allow them to do that, because they’re trying to demonstrate a behavior that Jesus wants them to demonstrate. Don’t deny them that.

This is not what this is talking about. This is saying do not go out doing things seeking a reward. Don’t go out there and be like “Well I’m going to do this good, because I really hope that if I do this good, then I’ll be recognized.”

Or “If my business sponsors this charity, I’m hoping like an event we are gonna feed the homeless next month or something, and if my business sponsors this feed the homeless event, I’m going to call every news crew and I’m going to make sure that they know that such and such business is putting this on and then hopefully more and more people will come and buy goods from my business and I’m going to make more money.”

No, if you’re doing it with that type of a mentality, to seek some type of reward, that’s what we’re talking about, you have received your reward in full. But if you do this with the heart of,

“My business is going to sponsor that because Jesus fed people and I want to feed people and we are feeding those people,” guess what? If a news crew shows up and they want to recognize you that is fine, but it’s not about the business sponsoring it, it’s about those people being fed.

Where is the heart behind the action? That’s what we’re getting to here. It is deeper. If people are going to recognize that action, that’s okay. But if you’re doing the action for recognition, that’s a problem. You need to want to help people without seeking recognition. That’s what God wants you to do. He wants you to help others without expecting any reward. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Now why is this? Well God wants you to be humble. What’s the opposite? There’s a name for those people that go around doing things just so other people will notice them. Guess what, they’re called narcissists. They’re sick. They’re mentally disturbed. They have problems in their head. Their wiring is short-fused.

They’re being corrupted by this world. Satan, the devil, their adversary has corrupted their minds and they haven’t been transformed or renewed. They’re being corrupted. They’re narcissists. They do things so other people will notice them. They talk over others. They want recognition. It is a mental disorder. It’s a sickness.

God doesn’t want you to be sick. He wants you to be healthy. Jesus healed all kinds of people. He wants you to be healthy. Therefore don’t be narcissistic. Now, of course, not everyone who displays these traits is narcissistic. Narcissistic doesn’t always mean bad.

Lots of politicians are narcissists. Lots of business owners are narcissists. Why? Because that’s the trait necessary for being successful in that arena. Now are they doing that in displaying those traits and hurting others? Or are they doing it for good? It’s all in how it’s used.

Where’s your heart? Are you doing this good to be seen and recognized? Or are you doing this good to help other people? Where’s your heart? Where are your intentions? If your intentions are in the right place, your heavenly Father who sees what you’re doing will reward you, and a heavenly reward is a lot better than an earthly reward.

Some gold medal that you get or some plaque that you can hang on your wall that you can show to others, you’re not taking that with you. What is it worth, money? Priceless. I love looking at it. It’s an earthly thing. Get your reward from God.

I’m not saying that you need to throw away all these earthly things. No, enjoy them. God gave them to you for your enjoyment. Within reason of course, everything in moderation. But remember, where’s your heart? Make sure your heart is in the right place.

Your heavenly Father who sees where your heart is and what you’re doing, whether you’re fasting, giving to the needy, helping others, using your gifts that God gave you like Jesus did, that’s the point. Do that and let your reward come from Him.

Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you would touch each and every one of these people. That they would have an outlook perspective shift. That their mind would be renewed. That you would put in their hearts the right reasons. That they would go out and be your hands and feet.

That they would help others as you have helped them, as you helped others Lord Jesus when you were here on Earth. That they would model your behavior and that they would look to the Bible as a blueprint, as a road map, as a manual, as instructions for that behavior.

That they would read the gospels and understand more about you Jesus. That they would say, “Wow Jesus did this, Jesus did this, Jesus did this. I’m going to do that,” and that they would do it with the heart and with the mindset of helping others and doing good.

Lord, I pray that you would recognize those good works, give them earthly reinforcement as well as that heavenly reward. Lord, we like to be recognized, we like to feel appreciated, to feel wanted here on Earth.

So God I pray that you would give them those earthly recognitions you have promised us. That if we seek your heavenly reward and we seek righteousness, all these earthly things would be given to us as well.

God, I pray that you would take care of all of their needs, their earthly needs, and their heavenly needs, and that you would keep their hearts in the right place. Lord keep them humble and keep them serving you with a heart like Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I really thank you for tuning in. I hope that this message really inspires you to do good and that you would be transformed with the renewing of your mind and that you would share this to show others that they can also get out there and do good in secret. God bless.