Teaching About Giving to the Needy
Be careful not to do your good deeds in front of people just so they will notice you. If you do this, your Father in heaven will not reward you. When you give money or help to poor people, don't make a big show of it like those who only pretend to be good. They make sure everyone sees them giving in the synagogues and out on the streets because they want people to praise them. I'm telling you the truth—the praise they get from people is the only reward they will ever receive. But when you give to people who need help, do it so quietly that even you barely notice what you're doing. Keep your giving completely secret. Your Father sees everything you do in private, and he will reward you.
Teaching About Prayer
When you pray, don't act like those who are only pretending to be holy. They love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and on busy street corners where everyone can see them and think highly of them. I'm telling you the truth—the attention they get from people is the only reward they will ever receive. Instead, when you want to pray, go into your room by yourself, close the door, and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father sees everything you do in private, and he will reward you. When you pray, don't ramble on and on with empty words the way people do who don't know God. They think that if they use enough words, God will be more likely to listen to them. Don't pray like that, because your Father already knows exactly what you need before you even ask him for it.
The Lord's Prayer
So this is how you should pray: 'Our Father who is in heaven, may your name be treated as holy and sacred. May your kingdom come to earth, and may what you want to happen be done here on earth just as it is done in heaven. Give us today the food we need for this day. And forgive us the wrongs we have done, just as we have forgiven those who have wronged us. Do not let us be led into situations where we will be tempted to do wrong, but rescue us from the evil one.' Jesus continued, "If you forgive other people when they do wrong things to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you when you do wrong. But if you refuse to forgive others when they wrong you, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done either."
Teaching About Fasting
When you choose to fast, don't put on a gloomy face like the pretenders do. They make themselves look miserable and neglect their appearance so that everyone around them will notice they're fasting. I'm telling you the truth—that public recognition is the only reward they'll ever get. Instead, when you fast, take care of yourself. Put oil in your hair and wash your face so you look normal. Don't let other people see that you're fasting. Keep it between you and your Father in heaven, who sees everything even when no one else is watching. Your Father sees what you do in private, and he will reward you for it.
Treasures in Heaven
Don't pile up treasures for yourself here on earth, where moths eat them up and rust corrodes them, and where thieves break in and steal them away. Instead, pile up treasures for yourself in heaven, where moths cannot eat them and rust cannot corrode them, and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. Because wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart will be too.
The Eye as the Lamp of the Body
Your eye works like a lamp for your entire body. When your eye is healthy and clear, your whole body becomes filled with light. But when your eye is diseased and clouded, your whole body becomes filled with darkness. So if the light that should be inside you has actually become darkness, imagine how terribly dark that darkness must be!
God and Money
No one can work for two masters at the same time. You will end up hating one and loving the other, or you will be loyal to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money both.
Do Not Worry
So I tell you this: don't spend your time worrying about your life—about what you'll eat or what you'll drink, or about what clothes you'll put on your body. Your life is worth more than food, and your body is worth more than the clothes that cover it. Just look at the birds flying around you. They don't plant seeds in the ground or harvest crops or store grain in barns, yet your Father in heaven feeds every one of them. And you—aren't you worth far more to him than birds? Can any of you add even one hour to your life by worrying about it? And why do you worry so much about clothes? Take a close look at how the wild flowers grow in the fields. They don't work hard or make thread for weaving. But I'm telling you that even King Solomon, dressed in all his royal splendor, was never as beautiful as one of these simple flowers. Now think about this: if God dresses up the grass in the field so beautifully—grass that's here today but tomorrow will be cut down and thrown into the fire—won't he take much better care of clothing you? You have so little faith! So stop worrying and asking yourselves, "What are we going to eat?" or "What are we going to drink?" or "What are we going to wear?" People who don't know God are the ones who chase after all these things, but your Father in heaven already knows you need them. Instead, make God's kingdom and his way of doing things the most important pursuit in your life, and he will give you all these other things you need. Don't worry about what will happen tomorrow. Tomorrow will have its own worries to deal with. Today has enough problems of its own.