May 17, 2014 Way to Act

Right Way to Act

Matthew 6:1 “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”  

WHAT is an “act of righteousness”? Surely it was Jesus’ expectation that his followers do such acts. He doesn’t say, “If you do acts of righteousness.” He declares “when”. So what is such an act?

     Righteous acts in Christ refer to living into Jesus’ perfection. As discussed in the previous devotion, we know we aren’t perfect, but we must strive to become more and more perfect in Jesus, maturing in our faith as we mature in our years here on earth. Such Jesus-like acts would be forgiving, praying, teaching, loving, obeying God, etc.

     Jesus point is that we are not to do such actions to cause people to say, “Look at me.” Wonderful words to our ears can be such comments as, “You’re such a good person.” “You really care for people, don’t you?” “You are so kind and patient.”  

     But in Christ’s humility, we sometimes don’t know what to do with such comments. Even more, we don’t know even if it is okay to have people say “nice things” to us.

     An appropriate response would be, “Thank you.” and then, “My desire is to live into Jesus’ perfection as closely as I can. The Holy Spirit has given me my strength and purpose to do what I do.” Your righteous acts will help people see Jesus. Your righteous responses to compliments will help people see Jesus more clearly. The Spirit of God has gifted you to know Jesus’ teachings, to love your Lord and to love others as yourself. Act righteously and point to Jesus.

LIFE Link: Faithful actions, humble words point to Jesus.