Bible Verses
“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
“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:3-4
Christian Bible Lesson Overview
It is important that you not only do good deeds but also, that you act for the right reasons. Contributing to people in need to make yourself look good is not righteous. Making sure you benefit from helping other people by bragging in front of your friends is not the way to help people.
If you truly wish to help people because you care about people with needs, you do not need to take credit for your gifts. The satisfaction that comes from knowing you helped other people with needs should be enough reward.
Christian Bible Lesson for Today
Sally was a college student at a major university. She worked very hard to earn her way into college and she wanted to make sure she completed her degree with honors. It was important to her to be respected by the professors. Every time she contributed to discussions during class sessions, she made sure to announce her name and state how she was relevant.
Sally did not work in study groups or share homework with other students. Everything she presented to the class, she made sure everyone knew all the research was done by her.
Some of the other students in Sally’s class resented her for always taking credit for research. The situation got to the point where Sally was isolated. Before she left for college, Sally had close friends. Now, she was alone. As the research became more advanced, she missed spending sessions with friends working through the material.
When she started her second year, she had one class that was extremely challenging. She really needed to share her thoughts with other students to verify her thinking. She tried to join a couple of the study groups, but none of the other students wanted to study with her.
Sally called her boyfriend, Bill. She told Bill about the situation. She told him that she was afraid she would not complete her degree unless she could change her relationship with the other students.
Bill listened to Sally and then suggested that Sally change her behavior in class. He suggested that she acknowledge other students when she responded to the Professor’s questions. Bill told her not to be concerned about credit, to be concerned about helping the other students. Bill told her to try this approach for a few weeks and see if there is a major change.
Sally did not like the idea, but she realized that it was worth a try since her approach was not working. Sally worked hard to promote the other students and help them when she saw an opportunity. She quit taking credit for her ideas.
After a few weeks, some of the students began to include her in their study groups. She established new friendships. She was amazed at how much better it is to help other students, that to receive all the credit for ideas.
This experience changed her life. She applied the idea of helping other people and not bragging to all parts of her life and she was much happier. The concept of not bragging affected other areas of her life the same way it affected her college work.
Christian Bible Lesson Summary
Bragging about your accomplishments will not improve your life or the lives of other people around you. Be supportive of other people and share accomplishments. That approach will help those people around you as well as you.