When you go making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you (Matthew 6:1–4,16–18)

3 min readMay 10, 2022

“Take good care not to practice your righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise you will have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens. 2 Hence when you go making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, just as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They are having their reward in full. 3 But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 that your gifts of mercy may be in secret; then your Father who is looking on in secret will repay you. (…) 16 When you are fasting, stop becoming sad-faced like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Truly I say to you, They are having their reward in full. 17 But you, when fasting, grease your head and wash your face, 18 that you may appear to be fasting, not to men, but to your Father who is in secrecy; then your Father who is looking on in secrecy will repay you” (Matthew 6:1–4,16–18).
Jesus Christ said that the human who works for his own glory to reap a form of recognition from men for the works he is doing, will only be rewarded with the vanity of the glory of men, very short, and not by God. The Heavenly Father only rewards humans who walk modestly with Him: “He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?” (Micah 6:8). The reward of God, because of our good works, done in the general ignorance of humans, is eternal.
Let us recall what Jesus Christ said at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount: his disciples are the lights of the world, and the good works they do must give glory to his Father (Matthew 5:14–16). Therefore, let us be careful to ensure that the merit of our good deeds always give glory to God: “Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or doing anything else, do all things for God’s glory” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

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