Soli Deo Gloria

All too often, when I do a good work I seek my praise from man. Did you notice that I took out the trash? Did you see what a good job I did sweeping?

This is completely contrary to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:16, “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

That last part is crucial. The glory belongs to God. I should not parade my good works so that people will think highly of me. That is pride—stealing His glory and honor, or as C.J. Mahaney writes, “contending for supremacy with God.” I need to give Him what is rightfully His.

My motivation for doing good works should not be earthly praise. It is hypocritical to do good works to be seen by others. Jesus warns, “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” (Matthew 6:1).

When I do my good works in front of others, that is all the praise I get. When I do them secretly, my “Father who sees in secret will reward [me]” (6:4). His rewards are way better (see Matthew 7:11). Here on earth, “moth and rust destroy and . . . thieves break in and steal” (6:19). The wise course is to invest in my future. I only have a few years on earth, but eternity lasts forever. I need to follow Jesus’ command to “lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6:20-21).

Glorifying God with one’s works is not a theoretical practice. Jesus’ good works are a means of giving glory to God. When Jesus heals a paralytic in Matthew 9, the crowd was “afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men” (v. 8). In chapter 15, when Jesus heals many people of various diseases, “the crowd wondered . . . And they glorified the God of Israel” (v. 31).

The next time that it is my turn to take out the trash or sweep the floor, I will endeavor not to do it as a “people-pleaser” (Ephesians 6:6), but rather “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).