Page 292 - THE MAN IN LOVE
P. 292
The Man In Love
charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Matthew 6:1-4
In order to ensure that our gesture of love through sacrifice gets the right results, it is important that our sacrifice is acceptable to the intended beneficiary. From the word of God, we can distill what makes for an acceptable sacrifice. Since we are talking about patterning our love after that of God, understanding what makes for an acceptable sacrifice with Him will serve as a most useful and compelling guide for us.
DON’T DO IT FOR SHOW. The above scripture draws our attention to the first thing we must be mindful of in rendering our sacrifice. We must not do it to impress the world around or so that we can be praised. The “charitable deed” referred to in that scripture is the gesture of love. Whatever the gesture is, since love is ‘in deed,’ it must be done also ‘in truth.’ It must be deep-seated and heartfelt. It must be done without any demand for appreciation or recognition, and not for others to see so that they can applaud, even if it is done in the open because of its nature.
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