Wise advice for all situations?

[William]

Matts Gospel:
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

[William]

Its seems to me to be advice which can lead to the practice of lying to oneself. Or telling ones right brain not to share information with ones left brain - an unhealthy internal sneakiness...along those lines...

[Miles]

Matts Gospel:
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

As related in the ERV

Matthew 6:3-4
3 So when you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know what you are doing. 4 Your giving should be done in private. Your Father can see what is done in private, and he will reward you.

it's surprising what god will do if you do let others know.

Matthew 6:1
“Be careful! When you do something good, don’t do it in front of others so that they will see you. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Question: What is so important about keeping it mum that if your generosity happens to get out god penalizes you for it? Seems like dictatorial over-kill here.


So in regard to your question.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

I guess it would depend on what the reward is: chocolate-chip cookies or a free pass into heaven.


.

[William]

Matts Gospel:
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

As related in the ERV

Matthew 6:3-4
3 So when you give to the poor, don’t let anyone know what you are doing. 4 Your giving should be done in private. Your Father can see what is done in private, and he will reward you.

it's surprising what god will do if you do let others know.

Matthew 6:1
“Be careful! When you do something good, don’t do it in front of others so that they will see you. If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Question: What is so important about keeping it mum that if your generosity happens to get out god penalizes you for it? Seems like dictatorial over-kill here.


So in regard to your question.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

I guess it would depend on what the reward is: chocolate-chip cookies or a free pass into heaven.


.

If you do that, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven

That seems to be able to be taken in more than one way.

But the stick and carrot ploy does not seem to work for everyone. Some are just pleased with the idea that at least getting into heaven is reward in itself.
Others need extra prompting..."sure - I get heaven, but what about my rewards?"

Kinda almost as if when BJ said "May it be on Earth as it is in Heaven" he was meaning "As it is on Earth, may it be in Heaven."

I myself am a collector of brownie points...I have trillions of them...because the more I use them the more they accumulate - strange little buggers...but treated with dues respect, indispensable

[1213]

Matts Gospel:
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

To me the point is that I should not boast about if I have done something good. I think that is good, because in my opinion people should do good, without trying to get admiration from other people. But, I have no problem if you don't like the idea.

[William]

Matts Gospel:
When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

OPQFD: Is the above wise advise for every situation or specific to only in relation to giving?

To me the point is that I should not boast about if I have done something good. I think that is good, because in my opinion people should do good, without trying to get admiration from other people. But, I have no problem if you don't like the idea.

It is not about whether I like the idea or not.

If folk are doing good, we should be informed of that as part of the process of feeling okay about being human.
Why hide that from our collective awareness?

Would it not be a countermeasure to "The News" which oft portrays the ugly side of humanity?

Is Christianity simply a vessel in which humans can dump on themselves and each other, accusations of insincerity in order to convince humans they are "filthy worms" or something?

[1213]

...
Would it not be a countermeasure to "The News" which oft portrays the ugly side of humanity?

Is Christianity simply a vessel in which humans can dump on themselves and each other, accusations of insincerity in order to convince humans they are "filthy worms" or something?

Firstly, there is nothing preventing you to tell someone else has done good things. I think the point is only not to boast about own good acts. Secondly, if you boast about your good acts, should you then also tell all wrong actions so that people don’t get wrong idea about your goodness?

And lastly, I don’t think it is necessary to call people "filthy worms". However, I think it is also not wrong to say, if someone has done something wrong. In my opinion in any case it would be better to speak about real actions rather than persons.

[William]

[Replying to 1213 in post #7]

Firstly, there is nothing preventing you to tell someone else has done good things.

Yes - there are ways around rules.

I think the point is only not to boast about own good acts.

What was the entity that was being given this advice? Why was the advice being given?

That will give us information pertaining to the question 'is it wise advice' but there is still the question of whether it is wise advice for all situations or only specific ones.

No one likes a boaster anyway, so how are we to boast of someone else's good things done. Speak of them without boasting would be good advice.

So why shouldn't the advice be along the lines of "Celebrate your achievements and the achievements of others, by all means, but don't boast about it like it matters in the grand scheme of things." [along those lines]

DO you think BJ ever boasted about his relationship with The Mind behind Creation [aka "God" - "The Father" - as BJ referred to God] ?

Secondly, if you boast about your good acts, should you then also tell all wrong actions so that people don’t get wrong idea about your goodness?

People should know that already. It should be taken for granted and not become an issue.

And lastly, I don’t think it is necessary to call people "filthy worms".

Howabout just 'worms' then?

However, I think it is also not wrong to say, if someone has done something wrong.

Why? WE all have done something wrong so what exactly gives "you" the right to point out when "I" have done something wrong?

I afford you some right, simply by being in a debate setting. The right to point out your argument appears wrong, when it does.
We agree with the terms and conditions and therein you also give me the right to point out when your argument is wrong/ an incorrect claim/an opinion instead of an argument etc et al.

In my opinion in any case it would be better to speak about real actions rather than persons.

I agree - point out the action rather than the person - poke holes in the argument - not the person, because the person has feelings which an argument doesn't. Feelings can be hurt and grievances created.

That is what we all try to do yes? Point out the action rather than the person behind the action?

I did just that, recently -

It is equally important to make sure one does not get the wrong end of the stick and confuse this with "Personal Attack" - always best to separate the argument from the arguer in all cases.