June 1 | Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 15–16; John 12:27–50

Giving Out of Love

Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:4

Matthew 6:4

READ Matthew 6:1–4

Every day, Glen purchases his morning coffee at a nearby drive-through. And every day he also pays for the order of the person in the car behind him, asking the cashier to wish that person a good day. Glen has no connection to them. He’s not aware of their reactions; he simply believes this small gesture is “the least he can do.” On one occasion, however, he learned of the impact of his actions when he read an anonymous letter to the editor of his local newspaper. He discovered that the kindness of his gift on 18 July, 2017, caused the person in the car behind him to reconsider their plans to take their own life later that day.

Glen gives daily to the people in the car behind him without receiving credit for it. Only on this single occasion did he get a glimpse of the impact of his small gift. When Jesus says we should “not let [our] left hand know what [our] right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3), He’s urging us to give—as Glen does—without need for recognition.

When we give out of our love for God, without concern for receiving the praise of others, we can trust that our gifts—large or small—will be used by Him to help meet the needs of those receiving them.

By Kirsten Holmberg

How have you benefited from someone’s anonymous giving? How can you give more “in secret”?

Father, thank You for using me to meet the needs of others and for meeting my needs through them. Help me not to seek credit when I give but to do so in a way that gives You the glory.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

After Jesus performed a series of physical healings that showed His goodness and credibility (Matthew 4:23–25), He described a life worth living (5:1–16). In the process, He raised questions about religious leaders whose goodness only went skin deep (v. 20). But like many other Scriptures, the Sermon on the Mount (chs. 5–7) was never meant to stand on its own.

Rooted deeply in the words of Moses and the prophets, this sermon was Jesus’ preamble to all that was about to happen. In life and death, He would personify the principles of His kingdom and bear the ultimate consequence of the deception and rebellion that began in Eden. By His resurrection, He’d break the universally feared power of the grave. By the gift of His Spirit, He’d enable all who receive Him to live in the presence and likeness of our Father in heaven (5:43–6:9).