The greatest pleasure I have known is to do a good action by stealth and to have it found out by accident. (Charles Lamb)
back it up with bible
Matthew 6:6b And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Proverbs 19:17 He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.
Isaiah 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His Name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
core christianity
Anyone Need a Shoe Shine?
Matthew 6:4 So that your giving may be in secret: and thy Father which sees what is done in secret will Himself reward you openly.
I came across this very powerful story about one of the most inluential men of God in my life, D.L. Moody, in a book named A Call to Excellence by Gary Inrig.
A large group of European pastors came to one of D. L. Moody’s Northield Bible Conferences in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Following the European custom of the time, each guest put his shoes outside his room to be cleaned by the hall servants overnight. But of course this was America and there were no hall servants.
Walking the dormitory halls that night, Moody saw the shoes and determined not to embarrass his brothers. He mentioned the need to some ministerial students who were there, but met with only silence or pious excuses. Moody returned to the dorm, gathered up the shoes, and, alone in his room, the world’s only famous evangelist began to clean and polish the shoes. Only the unexpected arrival of a friend in the midst of the work revealed the secret.
When the foreign visitors opened their doors the next morning, their shoes were shined. They never knew by whom. Moody told no one, but his friend told a few people, and during the rest of the conference, diferent men volunteered to shine the shoes in secret.
Wow. I’m humbled, how about you? Many of us want to be great ministers for the Lord. We want our names and our works to be remembered. But let’s never forget the true ministry of the Lord. Not only would have Jesus shined those shoes in secret, He would have returned to wash their feet too!
Have you been asking the Lord to use you? Here you have it! Shine some one’s dingy shoes, give a gift to someone in need, love on someone hard to love — but don’t tell the world — do it in secret! You can be sure that the Lord sees these things! And He will open up more opportunities for you to do even greater things for Him! Guess what — there’s so much work to be done! (George Whitten)
previously published
My life and ministry was that of a servant, for I had come to seek and save others. In many ways I was what you would call an unsung hero--one who did not receive the praise and recognition that was his due. Only those who knew Me well and could see and sense things in the spirit knew the truth of what was going on. So it is today that many of My children who lead what look like rather quiet, uneventful, less-than-spectacular lives, who have ministries that are not in the limelight, are also unsung heroes. They may receive little acclaim or recognition on Earth, but are known as true heroes in My Heavenly realm. On Earth, however, only those who see and sense and understand the ways of the spirit can see the greatness and the tremendous value of these, My precious unsung heroes.
For I judge not by the glory of man or by the greatness of the works of his hands, but I judge the heart, and what means the most to Me is love--unselishness, giving, caring for others, humility. (Victory Over Comparing, Part 1)
Oh, there is great glory for some Here who seemed to do nothing there! They were unknown and unsung, but they were judged righteous and faithful because they did His bidding. So be faithful. Be diligent. Be yielded. But above all, be loving, and great will be your reward when you get Here. Great will be your reward. I’ll say it again: Great will be your reward! (From Jesus with Love 1)
This is my idea of true Christianity; not sermonizing from a pulpit but being a living example of love and care for others….It is not enough to love only when we feel like it, when it is fair weather and we are in the peak of health, or when there are few other demands on our time and we have strength to spare. Love is weeping with those who weep, because it understands their pain. Love is being a shoulder to cry on. It’s a hand that lifts others, even when it is too tired to lift itself. Love is not only for an hour, or for a day. Love is always (Reflections #300)
make it personal
Please speak to me about someone, either here in the home or a great Christian, past or present, who was or is a good example of doing kind deeds in secret or with no thought of return or glory? How can I become more like that?
