Justin, you got me thinking.
Jesus speaks about doing what is right and godly. He has (at least) three good aims for the doer of righteousness. They’re all true!
To be seen by people
Matthew 5:16 esv
… let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Not to be seen by people, but by God our father
Matthew 6:1, 4 esv
Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
… And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
To act naturally and without plan, let alone an aim to be seen
Matthew 25:37 esv
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?’
- It’s worth aiming for people to see righteousness.
Because it will glorify God that his people do well. - It’s important that we aim to please God, not people.
Because it’s easy, superficial and hypocritical to impress others. Only God’s ‘well done’ is worth hearing. - We shouldn’t have any aims at all.
Because righteousness is not a show.
