Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. (Isaiah 58:4)
Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)
Jesus does not value piety which is calculated to impress other people. Anointing your head and washing your face are normal parts of grooming, Jesus is not commanding that we deliberately conceal our piety. When I fast, or give beyond my means I have found that concealing my piety is too easy, and people are not blessed by my example as they could have been. But there is a fine line here between that and doing good in a way that will maximise the value others put on me. I know very well the burning desire that others might know what a good thing I have just done. I know the fanciful longing that at least one person that I would want to impress would have been watching. I know the way I have found an excuse to tell people about it. It should be enough for me that God knew. It should be enough that God was watching. It should be enough that Jesus will tell everybody about it some day.
Sometimes relating a good deed you have done is useful and acceptable, and sometimes concealing it is unhelpful. We are going to need to ask the Father to transform us in the name of Jesus so that we might desire above all to please him and not humans. When we seek to please God we will not conceal the goodness that he has commanded to be a light on a hill.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
But we will be deliberate in maximising the pleasure of God not the praise of men.
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