In 'Humility', I Want to Tell You – I Gives RM1,000 for Charity

God is not fool! Men admire at our showmanship and judge us by how much Ringgit (money) we give; God, however, looks on our motives and see how much love and generosity is there. John Stott writes, “God is interested in the thought behind the deed and the motive behind the action” (Basic Christianity, Inter-Varsity Press, 2008). That is what will honor Him. Our attitude of love to God and to people in need is more important than the amount of money we can give.
Hey, attitude is everything to God.

In the Sermon of the Mount, Jesus issued a warning about the danger of giving for the wrong reasons: “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure – ‘playactors’ I call them – treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get.” (Matthew 6:1-2, The Message)

What a warning! What a danger! Nowadays, professional fundraisers use every gimmick in the book to appeal to our egos and to entice us to give more. Our name might get out mentioned on television and newspaper if we donate ‘generously’ to one of those famous TV programmes. Or as some religious marketing strategy did it – crafts your name on the chair that you sponsored. And some even give in order to get their names famous and to make a reputation for themselves.

This was why Jesus spoke strongly against self-promotion and those who desire for publicity in the name of ‘generosity’;

“When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it – quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way you God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, help you out.” (Matthew 6:3-4, The Message)

Jesus teaching us to give secretly, not ‘make a performance out of it’, so that only God knows. Only God is your audience. Only in the sight of God – and He will reward you, ‘working behind the scenes, help you out’. This is the kind of attitude (either people see or not see) that honors the Lord.

“Your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you” (Matthew 6:4b,NIV)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.