It's easy to care about the things of this world. (Matthew 6-7)

6:1-4

Why is giving for public recognition bad? Jesus explained. "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 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." So, if we give to the poor for the glory of men, we already have our reward of public recognition and that is all that we will get. Why?

It's not that God is withholding rewards because we are doing things for the wrong reasons. It is because of the natural order of agency and progression. If I am doing something nice for recognition, how is that helping me progress? Am I becoming more Christlike or selfless? No, I'm not. If anything, I'm digressing.

If I do good things for public recognition, the only benefit is the public recognition. There is no heavenly reward for that. The public recognition of the world is worthless in the sight of God.

Instead, we should just focus on the person we are wanting to help. As far as ourselves, we shouldn't give a thought for how doing good for others will benefit us. "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Our focus should be outward, not inward when serving.

"That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." The spiritual progress that comes from serving without ulterior motives truly prepares us for an eternity of service. We won't be working for the immortality and eternal life of others for our own glory. We'll already have infinite glory. We will be truly doing it because we care about others. Giving in secret in this life is preparing us to be like Heavenly Father.

6:5-6

Jesus makes the same point but about prayer. "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." What spiritual benefit could come from praying just to be seen praying.

We miss the spiritual growth and true relationship-building that will come from giving earnest prayers. Building a relationship with God is perhaps the biggest reason to pray.

6:7

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." I'm guilty of this. My brain can go on autopilot easily when praying. I find myself saying much the same thing each time. I've got to work on this one.

If I knew someone and said the same things to them every time I spoke to her, I wouldn't have much of a relationship. But, if I spoke earnestly about what I was struggling with and what I needed help with and offering thanks and appreciation to her, that relationship would flourish. Our relationship with God needs real communication.

We don't need to share an hour's long prayer listing the same needs that we did yesterday. As Jesus said, God already knows what we need before we ask him. I don't list the things I'm grateful for and the things that I need every time I see Marci. She already knows. My conversations with Marci, and with God, should be sincere and unique conversations about what is going on today.

6:9-15

In these verses, Jesus taught us how to pray. I think each line is an important point:

• "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." We are acknowledging that he is our Father and we are his children. It's a great reminder of the relationship we should have with Him. Hallowed means "greatly revered and honored." He is our father but we should honor his glory.

• "Thy kingdom come." We want his kingdom to come. It is coming, we know that. His kingdom will overcome the kingdom of the world. His kingdom is the only lasting kingdom that matters. We should live with that perspective.

• "Give us this day our daily bread." We are dependent on God for all that we need. Everything we've ever seen or held or owned was created by a loving Heavenly Father. We must remember that our life is in his hands. We don't live independent of God. To remember this in our prayers is helpful.

• "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." We want to be forgiven. We want mercy. We want our Heavenly Father to give us the benefit of the doubt. We don't want to be judged harshly. This is a good reminder that, what we want for ourselves, we should give to others. We should be kind and forgiving to those we know and meet.

• "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." The JST says that the beginning of this verse is worded "and suffer us not to be led into temptation." We are in a battle. We have an adversary. We need God's help in this battle. We cannot do it alone. We need deliverance. Without God, we would be evil. We would succumb to the natural man. We need to accept that and ask for help in our battle against our enemy.

• "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." We aren't working for our own glory. We cannot get confused about that. Satan got this wrong. He felt that the work he would be doing was for his glory. Christ was willing to do the work of creation and salvation and God would retain the glory. Pride could be the strongest temptation. This part of the prayer helps us remember who is the one who gets the credit.

6:16-18

"Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." He loves it when we are able to push down the natural man. Fasting definitely helps with this. However, if we are doing it so that other people think we're righteous, all of the benefits that we would receive from fasting are counterbalanced with stroking our pride.

When we fast for recognition, that's all we get. However, if we are fasting to put the Lord's will above our own, we become spiritually stronger and build a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

6:19-21

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." This is an important principle for me. I need to keep this in the forefront.

What we achieve in this life is meaningless on an eternal perspective. Every possession we have will deteriorate and rust and decay. All of our treasures can be taken from us through force or deception.

Imagine that you were in a community play and you were the rich aristocrat. You had fancy clothes and a nice house and a luxury car. But, it was all props. When the play ends, it all belongs to the production company. Would your temporary, imaginary possessions matter anything to you as you drove away and got back to your real life? Of course not.

The real question is would you give up the quality of your life outside of that play for your temporary possessions that you enjoyed on stage? You would not! Those temporary things matter almost nothing when compared to the rest of your life.

If we viewed this world and all of the worldly things this way, our priorities would be accurate. We wouldn't make our careers and cars the focus of our day-to-day life.

In verse 21, we read, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." If we are yearning for treasures in heaven, that is where our heart will be. Unfortunately, it's a lot easier to yearn for worldly treasures. It's about immediacy and presence. Our worldly needs and wants are ever before our eyes.

6:22-23

"The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" What does our vision control? Think of this as two questions:

1. How does what we look at affect our entire life? Are we looking at scriptures or a violent movie? Are we studying scriptures or flipping through a magazine? What we spend our time looking at is a big part of who we are becoming. The eye leads us along.

2. How does what we picture in our mind's eye affect who we are? Do we see the bright side of things or are we constantly cynical? Are we thinking about our spouses or imagining something with someone else? Do we imagine the worst in others or do attempt to see the best in them? What we picture in our mind affects our character as much as anything.

Truly our physical eyes and mind's eye controls whether our entire body will be full of lightness or darkness!

6:30-34

The big temptation of living in this world is caring about the things of this world. The world is full of distractions and we can take our eye off of what is important very easily.

When we're young, our friends and school are the focus. When we are adults, our careers and children are the focus. When we are older, a comfortable retirement becomes the focus. Each stage of our lives has its own worldly focus.

Jesus knew this of course. He asked that we think less about our physical needs and more about our spiritual ones. "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" He's saying that God takes care of the most meaningless forms of life in this world, we should have faith that he will take care of us.

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." The most ignorant human on the planet cares about food, water and clothing. It doesn't take spiritual strength to be concerned about these basic needs.

Instead, we should focus on heavenly things. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." It is true. If we are focused on being righteous, the basic needs usually come along. Part of being righteous is being studious and industrious and caring for others. Those are the ingredients for being financially successful. What I'm saying is that it is very rare to seek the kingdom of God and be living on the street. Righteousness brings success. However, success doesn't bring righteousness. It is very easy to be financially successful and unrighteousness. Therefore, God wants our priority to be the kingdom of God - not the cares of this world.

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." We can become paralyzed feeling anxiety about the future. It's not healthy. Sometimes we fixate on preparing for the future financially and physically. We should be focused on resisting the evil and temptation coming at us today. It's all we can do to hold tight to the iron rod today. Let's worry less about our worldly futures and focus more on the spiritual present.

7:2

"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." I wrote about it this last week. I don't think this is going to be God at the judgment bar saying, "Well, since you judged people harshly, I'm going to judge you harshly."

It's more about us affecting the development of our Christlike love for others. If we are judgmental, we are certainly not developing charity. If we are judging others to feel better about ourselves, we are not increasing in humility. We are not putting ourselves in a position to bless others if we are critical of them. We aren't going to improve ourselves if we have already judged ourselves to be superior than others.

7:6

These verses are made more clear in the JST. "Go ye into the world, saying unto all, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come nigh unto you. And the mysteries of the kingdom ye shall keep within yourselves; for it is not meet to give that which is holy unto the dogs; neither cast ye your pearls unto swine, lest they trample them under their feet. For the world cannot receive that which ye, yourselves, are not able to bear; wherefore ye shall not give your pearls unto them, lest they turn again and rend you." We should preach faith in Jesus Christ, repentance and the other basics of the gospel. That is the message that the world is ready to hear.

There are mysteries of the plan of salvation that are hard to understand and even harder to communicate. They are revealed only through communication through the Holy Ghost. If these mysteries are revealed to you through revelation, they shouldn't be shared with the public. Many in the public aren't in a spiritual position to make sense of what you're saying. We should keep these truths to ourselves.

If we do share sacred mysteries that have been revealed with others who aren't spiritually prepared to receive them, it is very possible that they will use this information against you. Consider the truth that we can someday be like God. How many have used that truth against us and suggest that we are arrogant blasphemers. They suggest that we are putting ourselves on the same level as God or we are tearing him down to our level. They will never understand this "mystery" if they aren't spiritually ready to receive it.

7:7-11

Are these verses really true? "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"

Joseph Smith really clarified these verses in the JST: "Say unto them, Ask of God; ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And then said his disciples unto him, They will say unto us, We ourselves are righteous, and need not that any man should teach us. God, we know, heard Moses and some of the prophets; but us he will not hear. And they will say, We have the law for our salvation, and that is sufficient for us. Then Jesus answered, and said unto his disciples, Thus shall ye say unto them, What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father, open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say, Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine?" In the heading of the JST, it reads: "Jesus teaches His disciples that the Father gives revelation to all who ask."

So, these verses are about revelation. It sounds like Jesus is responding to his disciples' account of others (perhaps Pharisees) saying that they don't receive revelation but that's okay because God listened to Moses and we have his words. They are rejecting being taught by any live man because they have the words of prophets.

God wants to give us revelation. All we must do is ask. I don't think that we all take advantage of this. I don't think I have the faith to fully trust this. I should. I should understand that I have a loving Heavenly Father. He wants to help me. He's the perfect father and knows what we need and will give us exactly what we need to progress to be like him.

7:12

"Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." This verse reminds me of Christ's answer to the Pharisees when they asked what law was the greatest. He said to love God and love our fellow man and then said, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

All of the commandments and words of the prophets are helping us love God and each other. It's just that simple. It shouldn't be more complicated than that.

We just need to be kind to each other. :)

7:13-14

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Why is this? Why is it that the way to destruction so wide and why is the way to eternal life so strait?

I think it's about will. If we are following our own individual will, then there are 8 billion different paths that we can take. If it's up to us just doing what we want, we can go any direction and just do what feels good. There is no standard of truth - there's just my truth and your truth. With all of us following the desires of our own will, there are endless roads of selfishness.

But, by submitting to God's will and following Jesus Christ, we give up our will and embrace his. We walk down the single path made possible by Jesus Christ. It's very specific...or in other words, strait.

Why do so few find this strait gate? I think it has to do with the natural man inside of us that wants what we want. In this world, it's natural for us to be selfish. We have to overcome that and it's hard.

7:21-23

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." What we do matters a lot more than what we say. Talking is easy. Doing is harder.

From these verses, it appears that there is a difference between doing amazing acts vs. simply doing God's will. Let's consider differences:

• Amazing feats of faith. I can give a brilliant talk in Church that impresses the ward members. I can attempt to serve more missions than anyone. I can serve more hours than anyone in the neighborhood. The key is why I am doing those things. It could be that I am doing amazing things for the wrong reasons and it isn't getting me any closer to God. I am gaining respect among my fellow man, but I am not getting to know God.

• Doing God's will. This is a different process. To do God's will means to work to build a relationship with God so that you know what his will for you is. It means that you communicate and listen for promptings from the Holy Ghost. You view yourself as a humble servant, giving him the glory. Discovering and then doing God's will is how you build a relationship with him.

It is no wonder that amazing acts do not equal a relationship with God. No wonder he may say to some, "I never knew you."

7:28-29

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." The scribes had gained authority through their effort and study of the scriptures. Their position gave them authority.

Christ didn't have a "position." He didn't have any certification pronounced on him. He wasn't recognized by the local synagogue or Jerusalem.

He wasn't only quoting from Torah. He was teaching doctrine that hadn't been taught before. He was creating new scripture. However, his words were powerful because they were true. His words had an effect on the people because what they felt when they heard them. Truly, no one had met someone like Jesus before. No wonder it was astonishing. Certainly, his words were powerful.

They still are. This past Sunday, we had three speakers. All were good. But, the youth speaker was the only one to quote scripture. Specifically, she quoted Jesus's beatitudes and His metaphor about salt. Because she used Christ's words, her talk was powerful. She used Christ's name. When we speak of the Savior or quote his words, the Holy Ghost will bear powerful witness. Her talk stuck with me because she invoked the Savior. I'm going to remember that for future times that I talk or teach. No statement I make will ever compare to the authority that comes with speaking the Savior's words.