by Margaret Radisich Sleasman

Created on: November 07, 2009

This title seemed to be an oxymoron from my view, but then I was thinking it was asking why we should not praise God and that we were praising God to get praise for ourselves. Now that I figured out that the title actually means Christians are doing good works to get praise from man, I can go forward - or not.

Matthew 6 is the chapter where Jesus is teaching His disciples to pray; before the actual Lord's Prayer, verses 1 through 8 tells us not to seek the praise of men in our giving or our praying:

1Take 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. 2Therefore 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. 3But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. 5And 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. 6But 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. 7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. (KJV)

So according to the above verses, if we are doing, giving or praying to receive praise from men, we are not only hypocrites, but we have our reward already and God will not acknowledge your giving or praying when you get to heaven (you may not be headed there anyway if you are a hypocrite).

If you are a Christian in the first place and not claiming the title for "show," you already know how undeserving you are of that title. Your whole being wants to reach out to the Lord in praise and honor for what He has done for you. That He even allowed you in the door is so amazing to comprehend, it makes you shudder for fear of the ones claiming to be Christians who are not.

When I first became a Christian, everyone thought I was totally nuts because I could do nothing without praising God. After a bit,

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