Thought of the Day !!

...in the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
                                                        Matthew 5:16 (NLT)

Here we see Jesus teaching us to let our good deeds "shine out for all to see".  Yet a mere chapter later in this Gospel he will teach us, "Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven."  Is he saying one thing and then changing his mind?  No.

We are not to do good to others so that we can be seen doing good and receive the glory for ourselves.  As people who are in love with Christ Jesus, we will have the desire to do his will, which so often is doing good deeds for others.  And when we do them out of our love for Him, giving God the glory, we will make our Father in Heaven proud of us.  When we do them so that the glory comes our own way, He will look down disapproving on us. 

Do good deeds so that others will know the goodness of God and not the goodness of you.

In the love of Christ,
greg