Disciples live to grow in their faith and please God.

Matthew 6:1-18

Central Truth

We exist for the glory of our King—Jesus. If we believe we deserve credit for our works, then our pride will get in the way of living to please God. Our pride seeks to steal the praise only God is worthy of receiving. Only God is good; only God deserves to be exalted. When we seek to give God glory, we direct all praise to Him and away from ourselves.

Key Question

Why is it important to believe god deserves glory for the good things you do?

Keep in Mind

Students are surrounded by pride and vanity. On all forms of social media, students consistently see peers and celebrities showing off every accomplishment, parading possessions, and flaunting  physical appearance. Helping our students to see that humility matters in our walk with the Lord is countercultural. Jesus modeled humility for us in that He descended from the right hand of the Father in order to be made a servant (see Phil. 2:7). While this isn’t the norm in our society, we are called to model Christ’s humility even in Christian service—in our giving, prayer, and fasting. 

APPLICATION

How can your humility point others to God so that he receives glory?

THE WIN

FOR THE STUDENT: We will receive praise from people at times, but directing that praise to God is important. It’s normal in our society to brag about our strengths or our accomplishments—we see examples of this all over social media. When someone sees you do something good for the kingdom, redirect that attention to the Lord and give Him glory. 

FOR THE LEADER: Anything good we do is a reflection of God’s goodness to us and in us. As leaders, we model for our students that all good things come from the Father. We do this by laying down our own pride and exhibiting humility.