Anxious or Depressed? Free coaching: info@wamkuipers.nl

Matthew 6:1. Loosing. 20 Jan 2023

Mat 6:1 Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.

Chapter 6 of Matthew begins with three warnings. Todays the first. One may wonder how serious those words are: 'You will loose all reward from your Father in heaven!' It sounds frightening.

Some thoughts

1. It could be that the self-righteous cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.
2. Those warnings are an introduction about how to pray. And prayer is connecting to God. God wants to be honored. He deserves it. And when I am honoring myself, I make myself the 'first', a god.
3. When I am proud and attract attention, my fellow people will shy away.
4. It is just the normal thing to care for a few things. It is nothing special. Even the 'gentiles' do it.

Prayer

Jesus, teach me humility.

Self Evaluation

I am thinking about my job. How do I respect and honor my colleagues and organization? Even talking critical about others is painful. Being upright may include being respectful.