Audience Of One

Matthew 6:1

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in Heaven.”

Most of us, whether we are aware of it or not, do things to please an audience. This has become increasingly true in our modern, publicity-seeking, popularity-concerned, reality-television, social media based society.

The question is not whether we have an audience but which audience we have.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we should only be concerned with God being our number one fan. When we take this pursuit seriously almost all of our endeavors are transformed.

God has designed each of His commands for our benefit: to protect us from harm and help us develop a foundational contentment, regardless of circumstance.

Jesus makes it very clear in our passage today that we are not to practice our righteousness in front of others because if we do, we will receive no reward from our Father in Heaven. When we live only for God’s praise, we realize that His commands are actually blessings in disguise.

If we want to create a tangible difference in our own call as Christians, we need to grow in our awareness that only one opinion ultimately matters.

Our desire should be to please God alone.

One Minute Reflection
What audience do you care about and why?

“I have only one audience. Before you, I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain, nothing to lose.” [Winston Churchill]

Tracy Baumer Fox, Having A Heart For God Devotional: 365 Days of the One Minute Bible Study