Matthew 6
6
Doing Good Deeds Secretly
1“Be careful not to do good deeds in front of other people so that they’ll see you. If you do that, you won’t get any reward from your Father in heaven.
Giving to People in Need
2“When you give to people in need, don’t announce it by having trumpets blown in front of you. That’s what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets because they want people to notice them. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get. 3But when you give to people in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4Then your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
Prayer
5“When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that other people will see them. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get. 6When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who can’t be seen. Then your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, don’t keep talking on and on like the people who worship other gods. They think their prayers will be answered because they’ve talked so much. 8Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.
9“Therefore, pray like this:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10May your kingdom come—
may your will be done on earth
as it already is done in heaven.
11Give us today our daily bread,
12and forgive our sins,
just as we forgive those who sin against us.
13Don’t let us fall into temptation,
and save us from the evil one.’
14If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15But if you don’t forgive other people, your Father won’t forgive your sins.
Fasting
16“When you go without eating, don’t look all sad like the hypocrites. They make strange faces so that people will notice that they’re fasting. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get. 17But when you go without eating, refresh your hair with olive oil and wash your face. 18Then no one will be able to tell that you’re fasting. Only your Father, who can’t be seen, will know it. And your Father, who sees what you do in secret, will reward you.
God and Money
19“Don’t try to get a lot of riches on earth, because moths and pests can destroy your things there, and thieves can break in and steal them. 20Instead, make sure you have a lot of riches in heaven, because moths and pests can’t destroy anything there, and thieves can’t break in and steal anything. 21Wherever your riches are, that’s where your heart will be.
22“The eye lets light into the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are unhealthy, then your whole body will be full of darkness. If the light inside you is darkness, then it’s really dark!
24“No one can serve two masters. Either you’ll hate the first and love the second, or you’ll be devoted to the first and not care about the second. You can’t serve both God and money.
God Knows What You Need
25“So I’m telling you not to worry about your life, what you’ll eat or drink, and not to worry about your body, what you’ll wear. Isn’t there more to life than eating? And isn’t there more to the body than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air. They don’t plant or harvest crops, and they don’t put grain away in barns. But your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth much more than they are? 27Can any of you add even one hour to your life by worrying?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the wild flowers grow. They don’t work or make clothes, 29but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was dressed as well as one of these flowers. 30If God dresses the wild grass so well, even though it’s here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, isn’t he even more likely to make sure that you have clothes? You have such little faith! 31Don’t get all worried and say, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32People who don’t trust in God are concerned with those things. But your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33So be concerned about the kingdom of God first, and do what he wants you to do, and all those things will also be given to you. 34Don’t worry about tomorrow—let it worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.
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Matthew 6: RAD
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Matthew 6
6
Giving to the Needy
1 “Beware of #
1 John 2:29 practicing your righteousness before other people in order # ver. 16; ch. 23:5 to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 # [1 Cor. 13:3] “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may #
John 5:44 be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have #
Luke 6:24
received their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. #ver. 6, 18And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Lord’s Prayer
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love #
Mark 11:25; Luke 18:11 to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. # ver. 2, 16 Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6But when you pray, #2 Kgs. 4:33; Isa. 26:20 go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. #ver. 4, 18And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as # ver. 32; ch. 5:47 the Gentiles do, for #
1 Kgs. 18:26 they think that they will be heard #
Prov. 10:19; Eccles. 5:2 for their many words. 8Do not be like them, #ver. 32for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9#For ver. 9-13, [Luke 11:2-4] Pray then like this:
# ver. 1 “Our Father in heaven,
#
Isa. 29:23; [Luke 1:49; 1 Pet. 3:15] hallowed be #
John 17:6
your name. # 6:9 Or Let your name be kept holy, or Let your name be treated with reverence
10 # [ch. 3:2; 4:17] Your kingdom come,
# ch. 26:42; Luke 22:42; Acts 21:14; [ch. 12:50; Heb. 13:21] your will be done,#6:10 Or Let your kingdom come, let your will be done
#
Ps. 103:20, 21; Dan. 4:35 on earth as it is in heaven.
11 #
Prov. 30:8 Give us # [ver. 34] this day our daily bread, # 6:11 Or our bread for tomorrow
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And # ch. 26:41; Mark 14:38; Luke 22:40, 46; [1 Cor. 10:13] lead us not into temptation,
but #
John 17:15; 2 Thess. 3:3; [2 Tim. 4:18] deliver us from # See ch. 13:19 evil. # 6:13 Or the evil one ; some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen
14 #
Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:13 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15#ch. 18:35; See James 2:13but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Fasting
16 “And #
Isa. 58:5 when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. # ver. 2, 5 Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, #Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam. 12:20anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. #ver. 4, 6And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
19 # ch. 19:21; Luke 12:21, 33, 34; 18:22; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10, 17-19; Heb. 13:5 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where #
James 5:2, 3 moth and rust # 6:19 Or worm ; also verse 20 destroy and where thieves #ch. 24:43break in and steal, 20#[See ver. 19 above]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 #
Luke 11:34, 35 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23#[See ver. 22 above] but if #ch. 20:15; Deut. 15:9; Prov. 28:22your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 #
Luke 16:13; [Rom. 6:16; James 4:4] “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and #
Luke 16:9, 11, 13 money. # 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions
Do Not Be Anxious
25 # For ver. 25-33, see Luke 12:22-31 “Therefore I tell you, # ver. 27, 28, 31, 34; ch. 10:19; 13:22 (Gk.); 1 Cor. 7:32 (Gk.); Phil. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:7 do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26#[Job 38:41; Ps. 147:9] Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. #ch. 10:31Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his #Luke 2:52span of life?#6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, #1 Kgs. 10:4-7even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, #ch. 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; [ch. 17:20]O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For #ver. 7 the Gentiles seek after all these things, and #ver. 8your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But #[ch. 5:6, 20] seek first #ver. 10 the kingdom of God and his righteousness, #[1 Kgs. 3:11-14; Mark 10:29, 30; 1 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:9]and all these things will be added to you.
34 # [James 4:13, 14] “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
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