“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them.” Some think this text teaches that they must be secret in their works of charity. And they do but very little, excusing themselves because they do not know just how to give. But Jesus explained it to His disciples as follows: “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, 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. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” They gave to be regarded noble and generous by men. They received praise of men, and Jesus taught His disciples that this was all the reward they would have. With many, the left hand does not know what the right hand does, for the right hand does nothing worthy of the notice of the left hand. This lesson of Jesus to His disciples was to rebuke those who wished to receive glory of men. They performed their almsgiving at some very public gathering; and before doing this, a public proclamation was made heralding their generosity before the people; and many gave large sums merely to have their name exalted by men. And the means given in this manner was often extorted from others, by oppressing the hireling in his wages, and grinding the face of the poor. {1T 193.1}

(193) »Vogt jer for at øve jeres retfærdighed for menneskerne, for at de skal lægge mærke til jer.« Nogle tror denne tekst lærer, at de skal skjule deres velgørenhedsgerninger. Og de undskylder sig, men kun meget lidt, fordi de ikke ved hvordan man bare giver. Men Jesus forklarede det til sine disciple, som her: »Derfor, når du giver almisse, må du ikke lade blæse basun foran dig, som hyklerne gør i synagoger og på gader for at æres af mennesker; sandelig siger jeg eder: De har allerede fået deres løn udbetalt.« De gav for at blive anset af mennesker som ædle og rundhåndede. De fik ros af mennesker og Jesus lærte sine disciple, at dette var al den løn de ville få. Hos mange, ved den venstre hånd ikke hvad den højre gør, for den højre hånd ved ikke hvad den venstre hånd gør. Denne lektie Jesus gav sine disciple var at irettesætte dem, som ønskede at modtage menneskers herlighed. De gav deres almisser ved nogle offentlige sammenkomster; og før dette skete, forkyndte en åben erklæring deres rundhåndethed for folk; og mange gav deres store summer bare for at få deres navne ophøjet af mennesker. Og midlerne der blev givet på denne måde blev ofte fravristet andre, ved at undertrykke lejesvendens løn og være uforskammet over for de fattige.