Practicing ‘Righteous Acts’

In the Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7 in Matthew’s Gospel), Jesus had just called the disciples to ”be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48b, NKJJV) when he introduced an interesting term: “righteous acts” (Matt. 6:1b, BSB). The New Living Translation just calls them “good deeds” and warns of doing them publicly to get the attention and approval of others. “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your