Why do you worship?

As Christians, our devotion to God manifests itself in different ways, some of them are: prayer, fasting and giving.
These actions serve as evidence of the love we bear for our Lord, and as acts of worship and consecration.

As noble as these acts are, we have a tendency to do these acts performatively. To show our piety to people, rather than as acts of worship as they were meant to be.

When that happens the approval and validation we get from people becomes our reward because God cannot be deceived, and we miss out on the greater reward that comes from drawing closer to God.

Christ speaks to this danger in our passage when He warns us against doing these acts out of a need for the approval of men.

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matthew 6:1 NIV

His warning suggests that it is a constant threat we need to guard against.
Being safe yesterday doesn't guarantee safety today.

We need to constantly vet ourselves and our motives.

And He tells us what to do instead.

When we give, we should not announce to the world how generous we've been.

When we pray, we should go into our room, close the door and pray to God.

When we fast, we should not make it obvious to the world that we are fasting.

In doing this, out actions will be directed towards God and Him alone, and He will reward us for our actions.

Our hack for this week: Your motive in practicing your acts of righteousness should not be to be seen by men.

#LifehacksfromJesus