Verse 4
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret shall recompense thee.
It is notable that there are especially compulsory requirements for secrecy in this area of righteousness. Secrecy in giving personal aid and assistance to helpless or unfortunate persons is commanded by Christ and has these easily discernible qualities to commend it: (1) It assures purity of motive in the heart of the giver by removing the temptation to hypocrisy. (2) It protects and honors the privacy of the recipient, a privacy that is indispensable to his recovery and rehabilitation. (3) It protects the benefactor from a proliferation of calls upon his generosity. (4) It provides a noble basis for the development of true love and friendship between the helper and the person helped. (5) It honors this specific commandment of Christ; and, to the Christian, this is the most important of all. The tragic consequences of failure to observe this principle of secrecy are today clearly visible on a national scale where the state's ostentatious helping of the poor has degraded millions who, stripped of every dignity, must stand in line, bare the innermost secrets of their souls to "case workers," and finally sink into a state of permanent and professional poverty and the complete abandonment of self-esteem, self-reliance, and responsibility. Not even a government can violate Christ's commandment in this important business of human welfare without sustaining extensive and irreparable damage both to itself and to its citizens.
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