Naturally, there’s a part of us that enjoys being affirmed and admired when we do something good for others. And, of course, we don’t have to downplay or dismiss any of the gratitude offered to us. At the same time, there’s wisdom in learning to quietly offer our private acts of love without the fanfare.

For instance, our wife might never notice the million little things we do to provide for our family and to love her well.

And our friends might never see how much we sacrifice of ourselves to show up for them and pour into their lives.

Likewise, our kids can’t fully appreciate the sleepless nights we spent caring for them while they were sick. And our coworkers might not realize how much extra we do to make their jobs a bit easier.

Time and again, we make the choice to love to simply bring good to the other, and not for any recognition that might come from it.

And this means many of our acts of love will go unnoticed, which is disappointing to say the least.

We want to do good for the other AND we want credit for doing so. And it’s hard to keep giving of ourselves when it seems our efforts are not even noticed.

But Christ reminds us not to let our left hand know what our right hand is doing – that when we give we are to give in private, trusting God sees all and will reward us accordingly.

This keeps our hearts focused on God rather than trying to win the approval of others.

Love is no longer our chief motivation when we become overly concerned with others seeing the good we’re doing on their behalf.

In the end, continue to do good in private without the need for fanfare – knowing that God sees everything and even your small acts of love will not go unnoticed by him.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

Dr. Corey Carlisle

Dr. Corey Carlisle

Licensed marriage and family therapist and certified sex therapist - providing Christian counseling and soul care to individuals and couples, with a special emphasis on developing the masculine soul. Suwanee, GA 30024

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