Jesus told them, “You try to make yourselves look good in the eyes of other people, but God knows your hearts. There are things that people value highly that God can’t stand.
We weren’t expecting people to praise us. We weren’t looking for praise from anybody, not from you and not from anyone else, even though we could have demanded respect as apostles of Christ.
“When you give to people in need, don’t announce it by having trumpets blown in front of you. That’s what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets because they want people to notice them. Truly I tell you, that’s all the reward they’ll get.
So don’t judge anything before the appointed time. Wait until the Lord returns, and he will bring what’s now hidden in the dark out into the light. He’ll show the real reasons why people do what they do. At that time God will give each person the praise they deserve.
“ ‘You have done well, my good slave!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have shown that you are faithful through this very small matter, I’m going to put you in charge of ten towns.’
Whoever speaks on their own does it to get personal glory, but anyone who works for the glory of the one who sent him can be trusted. There’s nothing dishonest about him.
No, a person is really a Jew if they’re one on the inside. True circumcision is when the Holy Spirit circumcises a person’s heart. It’s not when a person is circumcised according to the written law. A truly circumcised person receives praise from God, not from other people.
