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6
Concerning Almsgiving
1 “Take care not to be doing your charitable giving before men, so as to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have not a reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Whenever therefore you do charitable giving, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by men. Assuredly I say to you, they receive their reward in full. 3 But when you do charitable giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your charitable giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will Himself reward you openly.
Concerning Prayer
5 “And whenever you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and on the street corners, so that they may be seen by men. Assuredly I say to you, that they receive their reward in full. 6 But you, whenever you pray, enter into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly. 7 But when you pray, do not babble like the heathen, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him. 9 Therefore pray in this manner:
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Concerning Fasting
16 “Moreover, when you fast, do not become gloomy, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly I say to you, that they receive their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
Concerning Treasures
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt, and where thieves dig through and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts, and where thieves do not dig through and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Sound Eye
22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Serving Two Masters
24 “No one is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and he will love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one, and he will despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Do Not Worry
25 “Because of this I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you shall eat, or what you shall drink—nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap, nor do they gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? 27 Which of you by worrying is able to add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither labor, nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God thus clothes the grass of the field, which exists today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we put on?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own affairs. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

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© 2014 Dr. Paul W. Esposito