“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:3-4)
Jesus warns His disciples not to be “like the hypocrites”. These people carefully obey God’s commandments, but they do this “that they may be seen by others”. They pray aloud at the street corners, they give money to the needy, they fast regularly and they offer God 10% of their mint and dill and cumin… all to show the crowds how righteous they are. Jesus strongly rejects their behavior. He urges His disciples to keep quiet about their good deeds. They will receive their reward from God, who sees in secret. They don’t need to show off in order to get His attention!
In Matthew 25, Jesus says that God will reward His children for good deeds done to fellow people, even when they were not aware that their deeds of mercy were counted as service to the Lord.
Don’t seek the approval of fellow people in the first place. Do not make your deeds of mercy public in order to increase your status.
God sees what you are doing. His approval is far more important — and the reward He will give you, lasts forever!