Matthew 6:4b
And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
They say that there are many ways in which employees are encouraged to work harder. Some are motivated by money, but not all are. Some are motivated by public recognition, others by a quiet “atta-boy!”. Still others do their work out of a sense of personal calling and the satisfaction it brings to them to do what they believe they have been made to do.
What of our everyday life; what makes us do the good and right things we do? Surely it is not the money. But many people do good in hopes of public recognition of some kind. Jesus warns us against such good-doing. We are not to pray, give, worship or do good in such a way that we are recognized and rewarded by people here on earth.
Christians are called to do good because it delights God. And he promises to reward us. I’m not quite certain what that will look like. I know some people like the limelight, others would just die if their good deeds were pointed out publicly. But consider this: if we let our light shine in such a manner that people glorify our Father in heaven, then perhaps our reward will be the delight within us that something we did actually brought honor to him who loves us so much that he sent his Son to redeem us.
And the true miracle of it all is that our reward won’t be some cheap trinket – like a golden plastic trophy. We’ll see it for what it is: a true reward that recognizes us as servants o f the most high God.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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