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Christchurch Miami

5 daily readings · James Drake

What's Your Real Motivation? - Matthew 6:1-4

Matthew 6:1-4

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Monday · Monday, January 19, 2026

Beware of Practicing Your Righteousness

"“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."

Matthew 6:1 · ESV

Jesus does not say stop practicing your righteousness. He says beware of practicing it before other people in order to be seen by them. The activity is fine. The audience is the problem. Drake opened by admitting that he and Heidi are different by design — better together, but with very different philosophies about spending. He recognizes the streets of heaven will be paved with gold, so he is generous with money. Heidi understands we are to be good stewards. It is a small, funny confession, and it opens onto a much larger one. Because the question of this passage is not what you do. It is why. And the why is almost always mixed. Nobody's motives are clean. That is not a reason to stop giving or serving or praying — it is a reason to bring the mixture to God rather than pretending it is pure. Jesus is not trying to make you self-conscious. He is trying to make sure you actually get the reward.

Reflect

Think of something good you did recently. Honestly — who was it for?

Pray

Father, my motives are mixed and I cannot fully untangle them. I am not going to pretend otherwise. Purify what you can and use me anyway, and let more of what I do be genuinely for you. Amen.

Tuesday · Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Better Needed Than Lonely

"“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward."

Matthew 6:2 · ESV

Drake pushed further, the way he said Jesus always does in this sermon. Some of us serve, if we are honest, because it simply feels good to be busy — that way we do not have to deal with the brokenness and the pain inside us. And some of us sacrifice because, well, it is better to feel needed than to feel lonely. He was careful here. Jesus is not necessarily calling those things bad. He recognizes we are simply human. But what he wants to do is help us understand the right reasons for doing the right things — because we can so often do the right thing the wrong way and miss the actual heart of God. That is a gentler diagnosis than we usually give ourselves, and a more honest one. "They have received their reward." The trumpet-blowers got exactly what they came for: the applause. It was just a much smaller prize than the one available.

Reflect

Are you serving out of love, or out of an ache — the fear of being idle, or the fear of being alone? What would it look like to bring the ache to God directly?

Pray

Lord, some of my serving is love and some of it is me running from something. You know which is which. Meet me in what I have been avoiding, and let my service come from a fuller place. Amen.

Wednesday · Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The Left Hand

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,"

Matthew 6:3 · ESV

"When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." It is a deliberately impossible image. Your hands belong to the same body; of course the left knows. Jesus is exaggerating to make a point about how thoroughly unselfconscious generosity ought to be. Not merely: don't publicize it. More like: don't even file it away for yourself. Because there is a private ledger most of us keep, and it is harder to give up than the public applause. Nobody else knows what you gave — but you know. You remember. It sits in the account you draw on when you need to feel like a good person. Jesus wants that ledger closed too. Generosity that you are still counting is generosity you have not fully let go of. The freedom on the other side of that is enormous. Give it, forget it, move on. You are not building a case.

Reflect

What good thing are you still quietly keeping track of? What would it take to let it go entirely?

Pray

Father, I keep a private record of my own goodness and reach for it when I need reassurance. Close the ledger. Let me give and genuinely forget, because my standing with you was never built on it anyway. Amen.

Thursday · Thursday, January 22, 2026

Your Father Who Sees

"so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Matthew 6:4 · ESV

"Your Father who sees in secret will reward you." This is the promise that makes the whole thing livable. Jesus is not asking you to stop wanting to be seen. He is telling you that you already are. The deep human need underneath all the trumpet-blowing is not vanity. It is the need for somebody to notice — to see that you tried, that it cost you, that you did the right thing when nobody made you. That need is not sinful. It is built in. Jesus does not shame it. He redirects it. Stop dragging it to an audience that will forget by Friday, and bring it to the Father who has not missed a thing. Drake said the point of the whole Sermon on the Mount is not a to-do list. It is our need — for a Savior. Just when you think that if you do this and that you will be right with God, Jesus raises the bar beyond anyone's reach, precisely to make it clear. You are already seen. You can stop auditioning.

Reflect

Where are you hoping to be noticed? Can you bring that specific need to God instead of the people you have been showing?

Pray

Father, I want to be seen — you made me that way. Thank you that you see everything, including what nobody else did. Let your attention be enough for me today. Amen.

Friday · Friday, January 23, 2026

Not a Life Coach

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Galatians 1:10 · ESV

Drake put the whole sermon in one sentence: Jesus did not come as a life coach, to help us live our best life now and do things the right way. He came so we would understand that our greatest need is salvation in him. That distinction changes everything about this passage. If Jesus is a life coach, Matthew 6 is a technique — give more discreetly, adjust your motives, improve your spiritual performance. And you will fail, because you cannot fix your own motives with your own motives. If Jesus is a Savior, Matthew 6 is a mirror. It shows you a purity of heart you do not have and cannot manufacture, and drives you to the only person who can give it to you. Paul asks the same question: am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. You cannot serve both audiences. And you will only stop performing for one when you are secure with the other.

Reflect

Whose approval is actually running your week? What would change if God's were settled and enough?

Pray

Lord Jesus, you did not come to coach me into a better performance. You came to save me. Settle me so deeply in your approval that I stop auditioning for everyone else. Amen.

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