Stress Test Devotional May 4
May 04, 2024
MATTHEW 6:1-4 | Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Obversely, love of neighbor is incomplete and even dangerous without love of God. Without the assurance and energy and direction of God’s love, human neighbor love gets twisted. I can be motivated to help by a desire to be seen as noble. I can be frustrated by the effort, the cost, the time, and the complexity of loving others. I can seek to help in ways that harm or lessen others’ dignity.
Moreover, the spiritual gift of life and faith is the greatest gift anyone can be given, so neighbor love and love of God cannot be separated. Witness is a form of love.
Have you ever seen neighbor love go wrong?
