April 30

True Charity

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, — Matt 6:3 BSB

Some people want to make sure every good thing they do is well-publicized. If they give money to a charitable cause, they want to see it mentioned in the newspapers. If they show kindness to the poor or help someone in need, they make sure that the act is properly acknowledged. They take care to ensure that their good deeds don’t go unnoticed. But this is not the spirit Christ encouraged in His disciples. He told them that seeking recognition ruins the beauty of their giving. Instead of announcing their good deeds, they should give so discreetly that their own left hand wouldn’t even know what the right hand was doing.

Of course, Christ didn’t mean that we should never do good deeds publicly. It’s the motive behind the act that He was addressing. His followers shouldn’t do good in order to receive praise. Religious acts lose all value when they are done with any motive other than seeking God’s glory and approval. We shouldn’t even dwell on our own charitable deeds. Instead, we should forget them, just as a tree forgets the fruit it drops. We should train ourselves to do good without seeking praise or recognition. We shouldn’t be so eager to have our names attached to every act of charity we perform. We should be content to do good and let Christ receive all the glory, while we remain in the background, unnoticed and unrecognized.

Florence Nightingale, after becoming a beloved figure among soldiers in the Crimea, asked to be excused from having her picture taken. She wanted to be forgotten, so that Christ alone would be remembered as the source of all the blessings her hands had distributed.