How To Live A Righteous Life
Forget About It: What Jesus Really Teaches About Giving and Living Righteously
Most people assume Matthew 6:1-4 is a passage about money. It is, in part. But Jesus is after something much deeper than your wallet. He is after your heart, your motives, and the quiet scoreboard you keep inside yourself.
What Is the Sermon on the Mount Really About?
The Sermon on the Mount is Jesus laying out what it looks like to live as a Christian. The Beatitudes describe the individual characteristics of a believer. The salt and light imagery shows how Christians are perceived in the world. And beginning in chapter six, Jesus gets practical, giving us three foundational spiritual disciplines for daily life.
Those three things are simple. Be generous. Pray. Fast. Not complicated. Not buried under layers of religious performance. Just three things.
What Does Matthew 6:1-4 Actually Say?
"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. So when you give to the poor, don't sound trumpets before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be applauded by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." - Matthew 6:1-4
Is Generosity Optional for Christians?
Notice that Jesus does not say "if you give." He says "when you give." He assumes it. Generosity is not presented as an optional add-on to the Christian life. It is assumed to be part of it.
To be a Christian is to be like Christ. And Christ was generous. He gave life when we deserved death. He gave purpose when we were hopeless. He provided when we had nothing to stand on. Our generosity is simply an overflow of what He has already done for us.
As Jesus Himself said, "Freely you have received, freely give." Our giving is not something we manufacture. It is a response to grace.
Why Do We Give to Be Seen?
Jesus warns against practicing righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. This is not just about dropping money in an offering plate while making sure everyone notices. It is about the quiet performance we put on every day, the image we manage, the reputation we protect.
Some of us spend more energy convincing others that we love Christ than we do actually walking with Him. We keep the facade polished on the outside while struggling deeply on the inside.
Here is the principle Jesus lays out: your reward is always connected to your audience. If you are performing for people, people are your reward. If you want God's reward, stop performing for the crowd.
But Didn't Jesus Also Say to Let Your Light Shine Before Others?
This is a real tension worth addressing. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16
Then in chapter six He says do not practice your righteousness in front of others. So which is it?
The answer is found in one simple idea: forget about it.
What Does It Mean to "Forget About It" in Your Faith?
The key to living a righteous life without performing for others is to live in a constant state of forgetfulness. Give, and forget that you gave. Serve, and forget that you served. Help someone, and move on as if it never happened.
When you do that, two things happen. First, you stop keeping score internally. You stop rehearsing all the times you gave, all the hours you served, all the sacrifices you made. Second, when others notice the impact of your life, all the glory goes to God because you genuinely had no idea.
That is how Matthew 5 and Matthew 6 fit together. When you forget what you did, and someone points it out, your honest response is "Glory to God." Because you were not tracking it. You were not managing it. You were just living.
The Hidden Scoreboard We All Keep
It is easy to say we give without looking for recognition. But the real question is whether we are keeping score on the inside.
- Do you remember every time you gave when you could not afford to?
- Do you track how many hours you have served compared to others?
- Do you remind God of your sacrifices when things get hard?
- Do you feel resentment when your contributions go unnoticed?
That internal scoreboard is exactly what Jesus is addressing. It is not just about what others see. It is about what you are holding onto privately.
How Does Forgetting Connect to the Character of Christ?
When Christ saved you, He did not keep a record of everything you did against Him. He did not rehearse your failures before extending grace. He gave His life and, in His mercy, chose not to hold your sin over you.
"For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." - Hebrews 8:12
When we choose to forget what we have given, what we have done, and what we have sacrificed, we are reflecting the character of the One who forgot our sin for the sake of love. We are not just being generous. We are remembering Him.
What Is the Promise for Those Who Give in Secret?
Verse four closes with a promise. "Your Father who sees in secret will reward you." - Matthew 6:4
The original language carries the connotation of an open reward. What is done quietly and without fanfare, God sees. And what God sees, He honors openly. The doors that open, the favor that comes, the blessing that shows up unexpectedly, these are connected to a life lived without keeping score.
When God gets the glory, you get the open doors. When God gets the glory, you get the favor. That is not a transaction. It is simply how a life surrendered to Him tends to unfold.
Working Out Your Salvation Every Day
Paul writes in Philippians 2 to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." - Philippians 2:12
Salvation is a free gift. But living it out is an active, daily practice. Every day we face decisions about whether to act in a way that honors Christ or in a way that honors our own image. Righteousness is not a status we achieve. It is something we practice, imperfectly, every single day.
And part of that practice is learning to give, serve, and love without attaching our identity or our reward to whether anyone noticed.
Life Application
This week, do one generous thing and tell no one. Do not post it. Do not mention it in conversation. Do not even replay it in your own mind as something you did. Give, serve, or help someone, and then let it go completely. Practice the discipline of forgetting.
If you find that difficult, pay attention to that resistance. It may reveal how much of your giving has been tied to recognition, even the quiet internal kind.
Ask yourself these questions as you go through the week:
- Am I keeping a mental record of what I have given or sacrificed, and do I expect God or others to acknowledge it?
- Who is my real audience when I serve, give, or do good? Am I performing for people or living for God?
- What would change in my relationships and my faith if I genuinely stopped keeping score?
The goal is not to give less or to hide your faith. The goal is to give so freely, and forget so completely, that when God rewards you openly, your only honest response is gratitude. Because you forgot you even did anything worth rewarding.