Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.” (Mt 6:1)
There are many people involved in “ministry” today, ordained as well as lay. The vast majority of these people are doing valid, solid work in the Church caring for God’s people.
Some of them, however, are not.
They are the ones who are shams. They say that they are doing ministry. They look like they are doing ministry. However, what they do is for themselves rather than for God or God’s people. They do the things that they do and say the things that they say in order to get recognition. They do not care so much about the people that they serve as about the praise that they might be able to garner.
Jesus was very stern about this.
In several places in the Gospels, as with today’s, Jesus warns His followers about doing things in order to be noticed. He makes it very clear. If we do things here on earth solely to be praised, that will be our reward. There will be no reward waiting for us from God.
If, however, we do things for the benefit of others without regard for recognition, we will be in a position for God to reward us.
And remember, when God rewards, He rewards. It won’t be little. It will be great, heaping, eternal!
FAITH ACTION: Make sure, when you do good deeds today, that it is for the sake of others rather than for yourself.