Matthew Chapter 6
Showing all 34 verses for Matthew Chapter 6.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. "
"Be careful not to do good deeds just so people will notice and admire you - if that's your motive, you've already used up the only reward you'll get."
I want you to check your own motives before you check anyone else's - do good because it's good, not because someone's watching. The moment you're doing it for the audience, you've lost the thing that made it worth doing.
"Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. "
"When you give to those in need, don't make a show of it like some do, drawing attention to themselves in public so everyone praises them - trust me, that praise is the only payment they'll get."
I'm not against generosity being visible sometimes - I'm against generosity that exists only to be visible. Give because someone needs it, and let the applause matter less to you than the person you helped.
"But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: "
"When you give, be so unselfconscious about it that it's almost as if one hand doesn't know what the other is doing."
I want your giving to be so natural that you're not secretly congratulating yourself for it afterwards. Let it be an instinct, not a transaction you keep count of.
"That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. "
"Keep your giving private, and the Father who sees what's hidden will reward you for it."
Do the good thing when no one will ever find out. That's when you discover whether you actually care about the person you're helping, or just about how it makes you look.
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. "
"When you pray, don't be like the show-offs who love praying standing up in synagogues and on street corners just so people will see them - they've already got all the reward they're going to get."
I want your prayers - or however you process what matters most to you - to be honest, not staged. Say what's actually true for you, not what sounds impressive to anyone listening in.
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. "
"When you pray, go somewhere private, close the door, and talk to your Father who is there in the unseen place - and he'll respond in a way that's real, even though no one else saw it happen."
Find yourself a private space, physically or mentally, where nobody is grading you. That's where I want you to bring your honest thoughts - not the polished version for public consumption.
"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. "
"When you pray, don't babble on with the same empty phrases over and over, like people who think piling up words will force a response."
I don't need you to perform elaborate or lengthy words to be heard - say what you mean plainly. Honesty matters far more than quantity of speech.
"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. "
"Don't copy that approach, because your Father already knows what you need before you even ask him."
You don't have to convince me of anything or get the words right. I already understand what's going on with you - so let prayer be about your own honesty, not about informing me.
"After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. "
"So pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured as holy."
Start by putting things in perspective - there's something bigger than your immediate wants worth honouring first. Then everything else you ask for sits in its proper place.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. "
"May your kingdom come, and may what you want done be done here on earth, just as it already is in heaven."
I want you praying and working for things to be put right, not just for yourself but for how things are everywhere. That's a bigger ambition than most people's day-to-day concerns.
"Give us this day our daily bread. "
"Give us today the food we need for today."
Ask simply for what you actually need today rather than anxiously grasping for guarantees about the future. That kind of trust takes the edge off constant worry.
"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. "
"Forgive us the wrongs we owe you, in the same way that we forgive the people who owe us something."
I'm asking you to forgive the people who've wronged you, not as a favour to them but because holding onto it poisons you and blocks you from receiving grace yourself. Let it go, the way you'd want to be let off the hook.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. "
"Don't let us be led into testing, but rescue us from evil - because the kingdom, the power, and the glory all belong to you, forever. Amen."
I want you to be honest about how easily you can be pulled off course, and to ask for help rather than pretending you don't need it. Strength isn't in never admitting weakness - it's in knowing where to turn for backup.
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: "
"If you forgive other people when they wrong you, your heavenly Father will forgive you too."
I'm connecting how you treat others to how you'll experience being treated. Practise letting people off the hook, and you'll find yourself more able to accept grace for your own mistakes too.
"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. "
"But if you refuse to forgive other people, your Father won't forgive your wrongs either."
I won't pretend this is a small thing - refusing to forgive keeps you trapped in exactly the pain you're trying to punish someone else with. Let it go, for your own sake as much as theirs.
"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. "
"When you fast, don't put on a gloomy face like the show-offs do, making themselves look miserable so everyone can see they're fasting - they've already got their reward."
Whatever discipline or sacrifice you take on for your own growth, don't turn it into a show for others. Do the hard thing quietly, without needing anyone to notice you're doing it.
"But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; "
"Instead, when you fast, wash your face and look after your appearance as normal."
Keep your private disciplines private - there's no need to announce them through how you present yourself. What matters is happening inside you, not on your face.
"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. "
"So that it's not obvious to other people that you're fasting, but obvious to your Father, who is unseen - and he, who sees what's hidden, will reward you."
I keep coming back to the same point because it matters: let your good habits be real, not performed. Consistency between your private life and public image is worth more than any applause.
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: "
"Don't stockpile wealth for yourselves here on earth, where moths and decay ruin things and thieves can break in and steal them."
I want you to notice how fragile earthly security actually is - it can rust, rot, or be stolen. Build your life on something that can't be taken from you that easily.
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: "
"Instead, build up treasure in heaven, where nothing decays and no thief can break in and take it."
Invest in what actually lasts - kindness, honesty, the people you love - rather than things that can be taken from you in an instant. That's the security that never runs out.
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. "
"Because wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart will be too."
Look honestly at where your time, money, and attention go - that's the real, unfiltered map of what you love, whatever you say you value. Change what you invest in, and your heart will follow.
"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. "
"The eye is like a lamp for the body - if your eye is healthy and focused, your whole body is filled with light."
Keep your aim simple and clear rather than split between competing goals. A focused life has a kind of clarity that a divided one never manages.
"But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! "
"But if your eye is unhealthy - unfocused or fixed on the wrong thing - your whole body is full of darkness. And if the very light inside you has turned to darkness, how deep that darkness is."
Be honest with yourself about what's actually guiding your decisions, because if that inner compass is off, you can go badly wrong while still feeling sure you're right. Check your own motives regularly.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. "
"Nobody can serve two masters at once - you'll end up hating one and loving the other, or being loyal to one and despising the other. You can't serve both God and money."
Decide what's actually running your life, because you genuinely can't give total loyalty to two different things at once. Choose something worth that loyalty - not a pursuit that will use you up and never be satisfied.
"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? "
"So I'm telling you: don't be anxious about your life - what you'll eat or drink, or what you'll wear. Isn't life about more than food, and the body about more than clothes?"
I want to free you from the grip of constant anxiety about the basics - there's more to your existence than just managing to survive it. Trust and perspective can loosen worry's hold on you.
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? "
"Look at the birds in the sky - they don't plant, harvest, or store food away, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they are?"
Look at how much of the natural world manages to survive without hoarding out of fear - I want that same trust for you. You matter more than a sparrow, and you're not forgotten either.
"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? "
"And which of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to your life?"
Notice that worrying has never once achieved the thing it's worried about - it only adds suffering without adding a single benefit. Let that fact loosen its grip on you.
"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: "
"And why worry about clothes? Look at how the wild flowers grow - they don't work or spin thread for cloth."
Take a proper look at something as ordinary as a wildflower - it's stunning, and it did nothing to earn that. You're allowed to trust that you're cared for too, without anxious striving for every detail.
"And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. "
"And yet I tell you, even Solomon at the height of his splendour was never dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers."
Don't measure your worth against wealth or status - even the most glorious of that gets outdone by something as small and unstriving as a flower. You don't need to strive that hard either.
"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? "
"So if God dresses the grass of the field like that - even though it's here today and burned as fuel tomorrow - won't he look after you far more? You have so little trust."
I'm not scolding you for worrying - I'm pointing out that trust is something you can grow into, a little at a time. You're worth more than grass that lasts a day; let that build your confidence.
"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? "
"So don't be anxious, asking "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?""
These questions - about food, drink, clothing, survival - are the ones that eat away at people every day. I'm telling you plainly: you don't have to carry that weight alone.
"(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. "
"All of that is what people who don't know God chase after constantly - but your heavenly Father already knows you need all these things."
Don't let getting-by become the entire horizon of your life - that's a narrow way to live. I already know what you need; that frees you to aim at something bigger.
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. "
"Instead, put God's kingdom and his way of doing things first, and all these other things will be given to you as well."
Get your priorities the right way round - chase what matters most, and the smaller, practical things tend to sort themselves out far better than when you chase them directly out of fear.
"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. "
"So don't worry about tomorrow - tomorrow will bring its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Stay in today - don't drag tomorrow's imagined troubles into the one day you actually have to live. Each day is enough of a challenge on its own; face it and let the rest wait.