Matthew 6:3 Commentary and Bible Study

This it the Lord’s wonderful picture of discretion. You must be so discreet that it is almost as if one part of your body does not know what another part is doing. By contrast to the ostentatious hypocrite, the believer is altogether different. He gets as far as possible from the boasting, subtle or otherwise, of the hypocrite, because he dreads the cancer which eats away at true godly character. How far is it possible to distance ourselves from hypocrisy? The believer should have a healthy distrust of himself that makes him question all his own motives and suspicious of the secret workings of his own heart. He must take steps to ensure that the deceitfulness that is within does not assert itself. Admittedly, the outward boasting of the Pharisee was none too subtle, as he attempted to draw attention to himself, but equally condemned are the more devious schemes which the flesh invents to fish for complements. Christ goes further and as always teaches that righteousness begins within, and so does hypocrisy. We must guard not only against overtly hunting for praise, but also against that self-praise that precedes it in the secret of our own hearts. It starts with self-congratulation that no one else can see, and this is the best place to cut it off. Left uncontested, it always leads to something worse. If you believe you deserve praise, why would you not tell others? But if you know your heart is sinful, then it will seem inappropriate to be praised by others, and you will say instead, ‘If they only knew what I really am, they would not make so much of this small act of charity.’ The Lord, in his characteristically graphic way, says, ‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’ Maintain secrecy about your good works, not only from others, but even from yourself. Don’t even reflect on the good things that you have done; don’t let the memory of them go round and round in your head, because you will soon get them out of proportion. Of course this is a figure of speech, for the body is one and can only operate as one. The left hand will always know what the right hand is doing, and all the members of the body cooperate together for that is how God has made us, but in this highly novel and interesting illustration, the Lord exhorts us to dissolve even this insoluble coupling within us in the interests of humility. The hand itself does not of course know anything; it is the mind which knows. The meaning is that we are to supress all reflection on our own accomplishments or our own glory. The hand may have done something good, but leave recompense to God. Take no steps yourself to secure a reward from men, even to the extent of thinking that you deserve such a reward. Those who wait for their reward from God have abandoned the whole matter of whether or not they receive a reward into his hands.