Matthew 6

Giving to the Needy// Deuteronomy 15:7–11

¹“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

• MT 6:1[NOTABLE]If you do good things to get noticed, the applause is your whole reward. Give quietly, pray privately, and God sees it.

²So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full 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. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

The Lord’s Prayer// Luke 11:1–4

⁵And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

⁷And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹So then, this is how you should pray:

‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰Your kingdom come,

Your will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹Give us this day our daily bread.

¹²And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from the evil one.’ [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.]

• MT 6:13[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← 1CH 29:11

¹⁴For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours.

Proper Fasting

¹⁶When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. ¹⁷But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸so that your fasting will not be obvious to men, but only to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven// Luke 12:32–34

¹⁹Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

• MT 6:19[NOTABLE]Jesus's core teaching on where to invest — earthly treasures perish; heavenly ones don't; 'where your treasure is, there will your heart be also'
• MT 6:21[HEART]Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The Lamp of the Body// Luke 11:33–36

²²The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

²⁴No one can serve two masters: 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 both God and money.

• MT 6:24[NOTABLE]The impossibility of divided allegiance between God and money — one of Jesus's sharpest either/or statements

Do Not Worry// Luke 12:22–31

²⁵Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸And why do you worry about clothes? Consider how the lilies of the field grow: They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

• MT 6:29[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← 1KI 10:4-7

³¹Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles strive after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.