The Sermon on the Mount 12 - Matt 6:1-4

The Lord points out the importance, not only of giving, but of doing it right. Apparently, one of the practices of the day was make a big public display whenever you do something nice for someone else so that everyone else can see it and know what a good person you are. The Lord says, “take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen o them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.” I always thought that this meant that any recognition you receive for doing something nice for someone else meant that you wouldn’t receive any blessings. But I’ve learned that usually God’s reaction to your choices are more based on  what your intentions were rather than what the outcome is, especially if it is beyond your control. I don’t think that it would ever occur to me to “sound a trumpet” so that everyone could watch me give someone charity. Honestly, the only time I would consider having someone watch me was to teach my children. In this example, the intentions of the hypocrites was for people to see them do something nice, therefore, when they got what they wanted they were rewarded. They didn’t want blessings from God because that wasn’t their intention; it wasn’t why you did it in the first place. When your intention is to serve someone else, you’re not looking for respect from people; you’re only looking to ease the burden of that child of God at that moment. You’re doing something nice for tat person because you love God and therefore are trying to love them. I guess it comes down to, are you doing it for them or are you doing it for you?

The IM defines “alms” as “acts of righteousness or religious devotion, including acts of service or charity, and quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “Some may serve for hope of earthly reward. Such a man or woman might serve in Church positions or in private acts of mercy in an effort to achieve prominence or cultivate contacts that would increase income or aid in acquiring wealth. Others might serve in order to obtain worldly honors, prominence, or power… In contrast, those who serve quietly, even ‘in secret,’ qualify for the Savior’s promise tat ‘thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.’… ‘Charity is the pure love of Christ.’ The Book of Mormon teaches us that this virtue is ‘the greatest of all.’ If our service is to be most efficacious, it must be accomplished for the love of God and the love of his children… I know that God expects us to work to purify our hearts and our thoughts so that we may serve one another for the highest and best reason, the pure love of Christ.”