impossible

Mar

31

Matthew 6:1-6 Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—a stranger, not your own lips (Proverbs 27:2).

What did Jesus say about good deeds in Matthew 5:14-16? How does this jibe with 6:1-6?

How do you deal with the desire to receive praise and attention? Who gets the praise when you let your good deeds speak for themselves?

Despite his status as a former world-class basketball player, David Robinson has resisted superstardom’s relentless temptations and forged a reputation as a quality human being on and off the court. One of the tangible results of his ongoing legacy is a private school in San Antonio, Texas.

A cursory glance at this academically rigorous institution won’t tell you that Robinson contributed $9 million (USD) to found it. The Carver Academy doesn’t bear Robinson’s name, but rather honors the memory of the great botanist and educator George Washington Carver (1864–1943). In a world that clamors for praise and adulation, David Robinson’s humble generosity is refreshing.

In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He warned against doing things for the purpose of getting praise. “Watch out!” Jesus said. “Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). He extended that warning to indict “hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in synagogues where everyone can see them” (Matthew 6:5). Jesus wanted us to be secretive about our good deeds.

It’s easy to get addicted to praise and to fish for compliments. We crave to hear the glowing things people say about us. Humility, it seems, is impossibly elusive. And yet to be humble is the absolute standard Jesus calls us to. He lived it out for us. Paul wrote, “Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. . . . He took the humble position of a slave” (Philippians 2:6-7).

Some good advice for your humility quest is found in these words: “Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—a stranger, not your own lips” (Proverbs 27:2). “God blesses those who are humble,” Jesus declared, “for they will inherit the whole earth” (Matthew 5:5).

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 1 Samuel 24:1-22