Humble + Private Obedience

God is looking for men and women who will serve Him humbly and unconditionally. People who are not looking for the approval or recognition of man but will do the will of God even if no one ever knows that it was them. That can be hard to find, because most people have insecurities that cause them to desire to prove to others that they are worthy of love, position, appreciation, and favor. They may start out obeying the promptings of the Spirit to bless someone with money, their time, service, or a gift but then they make sure others are aware of the sacrifices they have made. It may be human nature but not God's best for your life.

This is why your flesh must be crucified as you begin to obey simply out of love and not self-promotion. If God asks you to bless someone and you take all the credit you will be appreciated instead of God getting the praise. He will not share the glory with anyone. You may be the channel He uses to bless someone but He's the one that placed it on your heart and provided the means for the blessing.

As you give of your time, finances, or possessions to others, don't brag about it. There have been times that we have given, and we felt that we could tell the person we were blessing that God placed them on our heart and told us we were to bless them, but we couldn't let anyone else know what we did. There were other times that we were to pay off bills for people or just simply slip money into their pocket or purse without letting them know it was us.

However God leads you to give, be obedient but make sure you step aside and give Him all the glory!! The one who was blessed will learn to always seek God as their source and not man. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, there's so much He desires to do through those who will hear His voice and be obedient and humble. There's never been a time that we have given in secret that He hasn't blessed us openly. I gotta tell ya, the approval of man cannot compare to obeying out of our love for God and experiencing the rewards of a simple act of humble and private obedience.

Galatians 1:10 (NLT) Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant. Matthew 6:1-4 (NLT) “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."