What does this Mean?

Question

Christian and Bibically Speaking.... Also can this also refer to giving your offering a church that is should be done in secret with no other man knowing what you give?? A Friend of mine says this is not referring to giving to the poor what does this mean then? She is going to explain later tonight when we talk but I am going nuts wondering about what it means

Matthew 6:1-4 (King James Version)

1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 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.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.


Thanks

Our Church I just found out does the envelope system for Offerings. And I am stuggling with that because of this verse cause I feel that no one should keep record of what you tithe or give as offering this is where this verse come into play in my mind and my friend said that this verse isn't related to giving to the poor or offerings and I see that if I do the offering system then the one who takes care of the money at church the treasurer will see the money I gave to record it and that bothers me cause I feel no man should know what I give. I am stuggling with this bad I love my church but I didn't know this is how offering is done for members.... I am a new member so just found this out.

Answer 1

It means giving to the poor, helping someone crippled to cross a street, lots of other nice stuff you might do -
The point being made is this: When you wish to do alms, lets say its putting money in the basket at church - don't get a bunch of coins to drop in there so they ding-ding-ding and so people will notice you are giving - If you help someone in need - don't help them, and then announce "yes, today i helped so and so and even though I was really late for work, I took the time to do blah blah blah.... In other words, if you're gonna do an alm, do it for the love of your fellow man and for the love of your God, DON'T DO IT because you want people to notice what a kind, great, caring and giving person you are. If you do this, what God is saying is that when those people who hear you say "yes, you sure are a great person, what a wonderful caring guy" - then thats the award you're gonna get - thats it. Thats obviously what you were looking for, so thats what ya get. If you do your alms quietly without notice, then although no man will know to give you props, thats okay because your Father in heaven knows what you did, and your reward will be coming from Him. That reward is far greater than anything man is ever gonna give to you.
Thats pretty much it in a nutshell.

Answer 2

1. Don't pray before men to try to prove a point.

2. Don't brag about your good deeds to impress others. This includes charitable contributions, tithe, and general goodwill toward your neighbors.

3. I take it to literally mean do not pray with your hands together. I think this is supposed to be taken to mean that one can pray in public without making it known to others. The reason for this is that negative things can come from people knowing that you are praying. This was probably more of an issue in the biblical times when people were getting killed for being christians.

4. Your relationship with god should be between you and god, not between you, god, and the whole town for example. This is again saying that you should not use your religion to get attention. It says god will give you rewards that others can see, however they may not know that the rewards come from the Lord.

Answer 3

Its like when a corporation like walmart gives money to some charity. They make up a four foot long check so no one can miss it, and televise the whole thing just so they can brag about how responsible they are.

Its just a public relations ploy to cover up the fact that they don't pay their employees a living wage or give them any help with health care costs.

Its about giving so people think of you as a good person rather than giving because you see everyone as a valued part of God.

love and blessings don

Answer 4

It's about boasting and giving for the sake of your own fame.
This is not genuine giving from the heart.
Of course if you do something good for someone and you are so moved, you may want to share that experience and feeling with someone, but to give for the sake of being noted as a big time giver is not what true giving is about.
Something like trying to buy your way into Heaven.

Answer 5

Basically that when you give to the church (tiths) that you should not brag about how much you gave. That's one of the reasons some churches provide envelopes for your alms. Bragging about what you do for God or his church is never a good thing.

Answer 6

This is referring to when a person does something good (righteous) instead of bragging about it, it should be done with humility. Some people do charitable things for glory from humans, but this scripture encourages the "gifts" to be private with God as a witness, in order for God who is looking on in secret to repay the giver.

Answer 7

Basically, he is saying when you do something good for another, anyone, that you should not Boast about your works before men waiting to hear from them some sort of praise or gratitude. Instead you should do your good works and not Boast about what you have done keeping it between you and God and let the Lord Reward you instead of praises from man.

Answer 8

Jesus is not referring to giving the tithe of the Old Testament, or contributing to your church today. He is talking about helping (giving alms to) those in need......

Answer 9

It means that you are not to do your good deeds only so that you will get noticed for doing them. If you just want people to say how wonderful you are and that's why you are doing what you are doing, that's the only reward you will get. Yes, this can refer to giving in the church.

Do your service or pay your tithes as quietly as possible so you won't bring attention to yourself and God will see your service and giving and your non self promoting attitude and he'll reward you as he sees fit.

Answer 10

It means just do it - nobody needs to know you did, you don't need to make a big show of it.
You will be rewarded for it in heaven as long as you don't demand praise of it while you are on earth.