Matthew 6:2 “Therefore when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Assuredly I say to you, they have their reward”.
I have seen people who help others and at every opportunity refer to the time they helped them. That is a very terrible thing to do, and it is not how God taught us to do good. Jesus said in Matthew 6:3 that, when you give alms, you must not let anyone else know about it. In Matthew 5:16, He said that, as your light shines and people see your good works, they must glorify God. In other words, you are not to seek any glory for yourself as a result of the good works that you do; all the glory must be to God and God alone. When you help someone, and you go back to tell the fellow, “Remember how I helped you that other time,” you are indirectly trying to make them your prisoner.
Don’t ever make anyone feel like they owe you because you helped them at one time or the other. When you do good, do it unto God. Don’t become a pain in somebody’s neck or a source of remembering their shame just because you once helped them. You must note that it is God who ordained for you to perform that good deed for that fellow. He already planned on doing it; you were only privileged to be the one He chose to use. If God created you for good works and ordained that you walk in them, and you turn around to announce the good works as your own doing, proclaiming yourself as the helper of someone else’s destiny, what you are doing is trying to take God’s glory and if you know anything about God at all, you will know that He does not share His glory with any man.
Isaiah 42:8 says: I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Do not try to contend with God over the good things He is doing in the lives of others through you. You are merely His vessel and all the glory must go to Him. This way, you will receive rewards for the good that you have done rather than face consequences for trying to take His glory.
Confession for Today
I decree and declare never to contend with God for His glory in the mighty name of Jesus.