In episode two of season seven of the Loveshaped Life podcast, Nathan, Otavio, and Bob explore Jesus’ challenging words from Matthew 6:1-4, about the danger of performing religious acts for public recognition. Jesus warns against practicing righteousness “to be seen by them,” calling out what the hosts describe as “click bait religion” - doing good deeds specifically to gain attention and praise. The discussion draws parallels to modern social media virtue signaling, where people post about charitable acts or social causes primarily to boost their public image rather than from genuine concern for others.

The hosts emphasize that Jesus isn’t discouraging charitable giving or good works, but rather addressing the heart motivation behind them. When religious practice becomes performance, it reinforces self-centered behavior instead of transforming it. God sees beyond external actions to the true motives of the heart, and acts done for recognition have “no reward from your Father in heaven.” The conversation explores how this performative approach creates a false perception of what pleases God and fails to address the fundamental human need for heart transformation - what the hosts refer to as sin - the fundamental shift in human nature from living for others’ wellbeing to living primarily for self-interest.

The episode concludes with practical application, challenging listeners to practice “secret giving” - tipping generously, volunteering, or serving others without telling anyone or posting about it on social media. This approach allows people to experience authentic generosity and creates what Bob calls a “circle of benevolence” - receiving from God’s love and allowing it to flow naturally to others. The hosts emphasize that true spiritual transformation requires supernatural change, not just external behavior modification, and that God offers this new heart through relationship with Jesus.

For more info: loveshaped.life

This is, was the kingdom that Jesus was inviting them into to conquer, right? That the evil hearts that creates this system of one power wanting to conquer another power and to rule another power. Because the real issue was the heart right then he was saying, the way you're going to be soldiers in my army and win this battle is to allow me to live in you. So this, this light, this beautiful picture of who God is, your Father in heaven, radiates out and draws other people, right, so that their hearts become changed.

Hey, it's Nathan, and I want to welcome you back to the love shaped life podcast. We're in season seven, episode two, and I'm here in the studio with my good friends, Octavio and Bob. And you met Octavio last time. New participant in our podcast. We're super glad you're here. Just adds a new dynamic, some new energy. So thanks for being with us last time we sort of reviewed, kind of brought you up to speed of where we're at, and now we're jumping into kind of the middle section of Jesus teaching in this mountainside Inaugural Address. We're gonna, I think, just jump right in with these opening lines in what you would find, if you wanted to look it up in your in a Bible, in the Gospel of Matthew, written by one of the followers of Jesus, it's in chapter six, and I'm going to just read these lines to kick off our conversation. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. All right, I'm just throwing it out there. Let's just find out. Like, what is Jesus doing? Where is he going? How does this set the stage for the next piece of this conversation?

It's important and interesting as of course, this is just a continuation of his thought from the previous chapter, but this was a major challenge at that particular time for the religious people, religious leaders. So what is this? This concept, this idea of, basically the deeds, the things that you do, they have to be seen, right? They valued being seen, and their behaviors being seen more than they actually valued the things that they were doing and the impact that they were supposed to be having on people. So it was really about the attention that would be drawn to themselves. Hey, look at that person over there. That's a good person. Because that good person is doing this, they were more concerned with how would they be perceived by these behaviors than they were actually with being a blessing to people by the things that they were doing. And so that was a big deal, and Jesus is essentially breaking that down like it's not about being seen, it's simply about being a blessing.

So would we call this click bait religion. Is that a fair term? Absolutely. Can you repeat that for me? Click bait, religion? Click bait. Yeah. Click bait is something that is done specifically just to grab your attention. Okay? No,

yeah. So you know, again, as we've looked at the storyline, we see that Jesus was not only flipping their perception of this earthly kingdom wanting to be set up. And he flips it into the spiritual kingdom. And then he said, well, the spiritual kingdom is not like what you see in your religious leaders, right? So then in previous episodes, we talked about that. But now here he's going into the practical, daily aspects of things, because they would literally like go to a street corner and pray where everything was done so they could be seen like you had mentioned. So ultimately, what was happening was it was all about self glorification. It was about drawing attention to me. So their religion, that they had painted was this religion of self centeredness, right, right? And so Jesus is saying, This isn't it,

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right, right? So

the because we came from this part of Jesus teaching where he's talking about rules of behavior, about the way you think and relate to women, about feeling hate in your heart towards someone else. So those are like relational behavior rules and Jesus resets the bar on that. And then we kind of move through that piece. Piece of Jesus teaching, which wraps up with love your neighbor. Essentially, that's the call, no no, no, not love your neighbor, Love your enemy. That's that's kind of the last piece. And then there's this transition line where Jesus headlines it. We're in the English translation with beware that you don't practice your faith because it's interesting. What we're about to come into is the practice of religion, right? This is different from how I treat my neighbor, different from how I treat my enemy. This is how I engage in religious practice, and Jesus says, Be careful, beware that your religious practice is not a performance to get attention,

yeah, and just to dial back where you were when he was talking about whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her committed adultery in their hearts, right? He was talking about a heart issue, right? And whoever hates somebody in their heart has actually murdered them. So he's talking about an internal right. So he's talking about changing the heart right, which, in His Kingdom, it's about this heart change that needs to take place from the inside out, and now, after he's like, progressing and saying, Okay, well, this is what looks like in daily living, right, right, right, so this internal kingdom that I'm talking about, you'll stop doing this type of practice that you see by these religious folks. But they, the average person looked at what those religious folks were doing, is something that was highly esteemed, right, right? Yeah, and Jesus just, yeah, he just blew it up again.

Isn't there a name? Were you gonna say them? No, no, go ahead. What'd you say? Isn't there a name for this? And I it's not come to mind, but isn't there a name for this, for like, let's say there's a social issue that's trending on the web. It could whatever issues there's a there's a genuine issue in society, an injustice that's that's unfolding in society, and say, a celebrity like it starts getting traction. Celebrity posts on social media calling out this injustice, and then it's almost like there's a wave that runs through social media where everybody feels like they have to make a public, public, or at least in the social media space, some kind of statement, To make it clear that they're aligned on the side of justice or this issue, it doesn't reflect their actual heart. They may be a jerk in person, but their social media, and I'm using social media because social media today is the perfect place for me to paint the artificial picture of who I am, I choose that I want to be perceived as this moral warrior, this, this social justice warrior with this, this warrior for the good treatment of other people. And so I create this persona in the statements and pictures I post, Jesus is calling that out that you our religious practice, whatever it is we do for that should not be purely for the attention the likes that it gets us. They didn't have social media back then, but that was the basic idea the religious leaders. Their idea of religion was, how many likes can whatever religious practice it is? How many likes can this get? I want to make a donation to the charity across town. Bring the cameras. Let's get that selfie with the CEO, with the director of this organization, because I want to boost my social cred.

But I just want to throw out a question, though, does it? Did it go even deeper than that, in regard to their picture that they had of God? You're looking at me kind of blank, right? Oh, no, let's see well, well, their picture that they had of God. Remember, they were thinking that these people that were doing these things for self glorification was actually getting the favor of God,

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right? Do

you see? So that was the picture that they had. So God falls for click bait, yes, right? Because, well, really, no, that's very good point in the sense of, they were earning points with God, right, favor with God, and they were earning a place in heaven because of of their good work. So the people that were watching this, saw it as, yeah, they saw their display, but they were sawing, seeing it as, this is the way to heaven, right? And Jesus comes along and says, This is not the way to heaven,

absolutely. And what's, what's interesting about that is it was setting up. This false perception in the people like this is okay. Then, if that's what they're doing, this is what it must look like, right then for me to be a follower of God, and in so doing, it is now misrepresenting what God is all about. And you see that as you transition to verse number two here, where Jesus continues his train

of thought. So can I pause you real quick? Because what I'm thinking is, of you know, when I have conversations with friends at work, the things that come up from their religious past are the artificial expectations, how you dressed in church, how you behaved in the so for people this, for people with an experience of like Christian background, that that these external things, that was the big thing, but they're they are very aware of the dysfunction in spite of this external kind of system of behavior, the dysfunction at home and the dysfunction in the church even was not lost on them, and that's part of what for those who are kind of for at least some, Who are rethinking their relationship with Christianity, for some that's a big piece of it. They just did all this stuff, and they're tired of doing the stuff when it didn't result in any spiritual wellness or life wellness. And I think I mean to me, that's what Jesus is kind of getting at here. I

think it's really important to remember that all of our efforts to change herself on the outside and clean up on the outside. It's not changing the heart, not changing the internal. This is what Jesus is trying to get across. That's why he said, except the man be born again, right? He cannot see the kingdom of heaven. There needed to be a change from the inside. And so oftentimes, in the religious worlds, it ends up with a focus on the external. And that was the same thing here that Jesus was dealing with. It was a focus on the external that wasn't changing the inside, right? That's what we need to really come to grips with. What Jesus is offering is there's a new person, citations, right? A new beginning, inside out, inside out, right? Because we talked about that. Remember in the previous season in Matthew chapter 23 when Jesus was saying, Listen, you're cleaning the outside of the tomb, but inside is full of dead man's bones, right? So he said you're polishing yourself on the outside, but inside he said, You're still full of selfishness, you know? And he said, cleanse first within, right? Cleanse it within first and the then the outside will take care of itself. That's the principle. Remember, human beings are made up of basically two components outside and inside, two components outside and inside, and God is saying, I want to live in you, and then the outside will take care of itself. It's a beautiful thing, right? But when all this effort to put into self centeredness and self absorption, see me, see me, and the concept that somehow that is pleasing, God, wow, it's such a it's such a distorted picture of God Himself.

And then Jesus said, You will have no reward from your Father in heaven. In other words, if our religious practice, whatever we do for spiritual wellness, is done for the for external recognition, it has zero, long term, zero spiritual benefit to it. We literally, even if it's even if it's giving to charity, which we're going to come to zero once it's to get clicks and likes it, it's completely the the benefit the spiritual, the Wellness Benefit, completely evaporates. But

why is that? That's the question like, why is it that there is no reward for that? Like, I still did the righteous thing, right? I mean, why is there no reward for that? And I would say, to answer that question myself, it's because the motive is the wrong motive. We're not doing this. We're not, you know, practicing our righteousness. You know, for the actual sake of this is the right thing to do. It's, it's a good thing. This is from my heart, but it's actually so that it can be seen. And if the motive is so that it can be seen, that means the motive is not really what's in the heart, what's really the good thing to do. We're literally just trying to get attention. We're just trying to make it seem like we're something that in reality. Reality we're not. And that, I think, is the is the big issue here, why there is no reward is because, in reality, yeah, you might have done this, but it's not really true to who you are. That's you're just doing it for the attention it brings, but not actually for the right reason to do it.

So if, if we're going to talk about, if I'm thinking of like a practical illustration.

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At home,

I just yell at my kids, my wife like my temper, just any old time goes off. But then in public, I give a large donation during a charity drive, a local charities driving a campaign for hunger right during the winter months, or whatever. To deal with hunger, I go publicly. I'm on the local news, maybe I'm on Facebook, and I'm making the sizable contribution from my place of employment, and I'm doing it for the attention it gets me. That's actually reinforcing the ugliness of my heart, the ugliness of my behavior that Jesus wants to to actually, he's after making me kinder, right and and changing me to somebody who's gentle with my kids, who's respectful toward my spouse, but my charity gift for attention is actually reinforcing the jerk behavior at home rather than addressing it. Is that kind of what we're going with? Well,

remember, in our world, the devil's done a great job at painting different pictures of God, and one of those pictures that he's painted is that if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, right, you're going to heaven, right, right? And that's a lie, and it's just a lie. And so that perception of, hey, I'm yelling at my kids at home or my wife all the time, and then I go out and I give this gift as if it's making up for what I had done. This is, this is the world that people live in. This is not who God is. God is saying, Listen, what I need most

is you right? Yeah, and the point you just made, it underscores, really the fact that it's really about what's in the heart. It's really about the reason why you're doing it. Jesus isn't here saying, Hey, don't do this. He's actually saying the reason why you do it that is actually what matters the most. And that's where this transition to verse two really comes in, where he says, Thus when you give to the needy. So he's not saying, Don't give. Don't do good things. No giving is an important part. It is a part that is. It's an evidence of that relationship that we have with God. When you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogue and in the streets that they may be praised by others truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. The thing that jumps out to me the most in these verses is that line in verse two where he says that they may be praised by others when we give, when we do good things for people, that's okay, writing that big check. That's totally cool. That's a good thing to do if the motives are right, but if you're doing that so that you can be seen, but the reality is, once the doors are closed and only a select few people that you think, well, it's not gonna get out in public when your behavior is something drastically different. The reality of what Jesus is pointing out here is that God actually sees that he knows exactly where your heart is, and that doesn't cover the check. Doesn't cover for the fact that, in reality, once the door is closed, once the lights are out, this is who you really are. Into the needy. That's a good thing, but make sure that it's something that's coming from the heart, not just so that it can get you attention. That's, I think, really what what sticks out to me, um, in this

So are you saying that that Jesus wants to create a people that are the same outside the door as inside the door? Absolutely

consistency and authenticity are so important. And think about the world we live in right now. And people that are younger, they value it like be real. Be real with who you are. Number one, the only person who thinks others don't realize it is you. That's all right. It's evident who you really are, like people. Can see it, and it doesn't take long for them. You can only cover it for so long. It doesn't take long for people to see it. Be authentic, if you struggle, be authentic. But here's the thing, this whole idea of, oh, I'm out in public, people are paying attention. This is who I really am, and they see your wife looking at you like, yeah, right. I know it better, but just be consistent. Be who you really are. If it's a journey you might be growing, you might not. Jesus isn't after this unreal expectation of perfection, but he is wanting you to be consistent with who you are, and a part of that is be good to people. Yes, give to them, but don't give just so that it can be seen. Give because it's a blessing to the person you're giving to. Yeah, let that be the motive. And I

think when we see that picture that Jesus was given about God, that we're fully known and yet fully loved, I think that's that's a freeing right, knowing that we do have faults we we do have struggles that we're going through. But even though God knows all of that, he still loves us and and he is in the process and will it will enable us and change. The harp remains so the outside change. It's a beautiful thing when you see God in that light, instead of seeing a God that I have to perform a certain way in order for to change his behavior or the way he looks towards me, right? It's that's two different pictures here. So Jesus is giving this picture of of God is of one of that he loves you where you are. So back to these verses. Sorry, yeah.

Well, no, I can I piggyback what you're saying, because that I think a lot of religious practice when, when some concept of God is involved, is that. So maybe I don't do the charity for social media posts like, maybe it's genuine, but it's motivated by, I need to impress God so that my audience now, maybe my audience isn't my the friends and strangers who see me give but it's God. Is that what we're talking about like, I live to impress God? It sounds like what you're saying is that I don't do goodness to earn God's favor, either. Am I correct? Correct? Yeah. So I'm not here impressing any audience, whether it's the people outside or God,

right? You're doing it because God has put in your heart to do it, and it's who you are. It's like Octavia was made. That's who you are. Yeah, on the outside the door and inside the door where you are right. Ever wonder what it's like to truly experience God's love. At love shape life, we're here to guide you on that journey through our weekly emails, podcasts, blogs, coaching and more. We're helping people just like you discover the transformative power of Divine Love.

Join our community at love shaped dot life and be part of a movement that's changing lives. Love shaped life your partner in the journey of seeing, experiencing and living God's love. Okay, so the thing that God is after is reshaping my heart. And when we talk about heart, just the motives, the reason I live life, the kind of the who I am in at the deepest core of me, that God wants to is interested, that, that that who, that that core identity is one of a person who thinks of the well being of others first, rather than the well being of self,

right? First? That's it. Yeah, I think that's where you really hit it. You know, if I'm doing something that's good, and it's in any way, shape or form to just simply call attention to me that's self motivated, you know? But if I do something, and it's really because, genuinely, it's for the good of that person that I'm doing it for, and that's all that matters. I don't care if they recognize it. I don't care if anyone recognizes it. This was the right thing to do, so I did it, and you just keep right on rolling. I think that's the key to all of this.

Yeah, there's a word hypocrites. I just want to touch on it. In the text, Jesus said, don't set a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do so. So basically, just, just to sort of make sure that you understand this as a listener, the idea of a hypocrite was, was someone who called attention, in this case, by literal trumpets. This was a big procession. Somebody's going to donate a bunch of money to the charity down the street. So they got the big parade with this, with the dome. Donor in the, you know, whatever. That's a big parade. And it was a performance to make the donor look really good. And so when Jesus uses term hypocrite, he's just saying they're just, they're just playing this, and they're playing you in this performance of charity. That's all that's going on in the text here, right? So

a hypocrite, again, is somebody who's doing something, but for show, it looks good, it looks good, but really they're the opposite when the door closes, right? So they're two different individuals. One is for show, and one is really who they are. And Jesus is saying, don't be like them. This is not what part of my kingdom, citizens, who are part of my kingdom, are going to be like, right? We're not one thing on the outside and another thing on the inside. Yeah, right. We're, we're changing the heart. He wants to change the heart so, so the giving is done in a way to just, I just want to help somebody, right, right? I don't need any attention, right? I don't need any likes. I don't need any of that. I'm just giving because that's who God is,

right? Man, I love this idea that God really wants us. And even the point where we're talking about religious practice, the point of good religious practice, if we're gonna anyway, is to become an authentically beautiful person, absolutely like a cake. You know, you see those, I see those reels that come up. Someone makes this cake, and they slice into and you can see the layers. And God's goal is that the layer you slice that cake, pull the piece out, and the layers are beautiful inside, as beautiful as they are outside. That's the thing that thought is. And I think for me, that's what makes when I look at the teachings of Jesus and even the ancient Hebrew prophets, that picture is what attracts me, that God's not looking at kind of performative religion where I put on the, you know, the right clothing, and I say the right words, but actually, God is looking at shaping me as a human being, into someone who is authentically, genuinely good, absolutely, that nothing in my life is done because of the audience I have. I mean, that's the goal, not that it doesn't happen, but that's the goal that the thing that's I do that are good is just because that's really what's bubbling up from

the inside. And remember, this is why we all need a savior, because when sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, their nature had changed. And so they went from living this other centered life, this life that we're talking about to flipping and living this self centered life. And

when you use the word sin, which is a very Christian churchy term, you simply mean that flip from living an other centered life to living one driven by self interest. Very good. Yeah. I mean, that would be a simple way for that transition in Scripture and theological circles, we call it sin, but it's that transition from a life defined by love to a life defined by me first

and I just so this is why Jesus came, not only to share with us how to live and what God was like, but to offer us this new heart that can produce this type of light, because we're helpless, in the sense of we're so geared towards self centered living and built that way because of the effect that we had mentioned of sin, that the only hope is a new heart, a new creation of God changing a person from the inside out. So this is why he this is why we're all in need

of a safe so what you're saying is kind of a bold thing, is that there is a limit to self help tools that at some point my aim to correct this bent toward looking out for me as number one, that at some point there is, there are no practices that I can do to fundamentally shift that and that my need of the redemptive work of Jesus, the inner work of this like the Holy Spirit, this other supernatural being that literally, I'm in need of that as a human being. To really become beautiful requires something, something supernaturally energizing. Yeah, and that

was the life that Jesus created. So as we're looking into that life and seeing that life, we're saying this is the life that he's offering us. Because you can take a pig and you take him out of the out of his pen, and you polish him up and give him a bath, and you sit that pig at your table and and you feed him. But as soon as you open that door and a pig sees a mud puddle, where's he going? Right? He's going back into the mud, right? Because it's who he is. So we can cleanse the outside like the hypocrites were. Doing. Jesus was saying, this is what the Pharisees are doing. They were cleansing the outside of the cup, but the inside is what needed to be changed. And this is what we're talking about, of why what Jesus is offering citizens of his kingdom is this new heart to live a new life, right?

And that inside being changed is not something we can just do ourselves like it is not something we can just like. Okay, so let me go ahead and change my inside. The inside can only be changed by literally embracing, leaning into fully, leaning into God's love and allowing that, literally allowing that to be the transformative thing that transforms you from the inside and then comes to the outside.

So let me try something on. Is it possible that because there's a section in the text where Jesus is like, Don't even tell yourself, he uses this language. Don't let your right left hand know what your right hand is doing. Like, don't even tell yourself what you're doing. Kind of a metaphoric idea of, don't even pat yourself on the back. Do the kind deed and just let it be done. Is it possible that when I engage in in this case, when I do something kind for the person beside me, the person at the rest the waitress, waiter, when I do something kind for employee at work. Is it possible that if I do that with the least attention I can shower on myself or gain from others, that somehow that action itself is allowing for this switch and shift in my own heart. Like, is that potentially nurturing of this new way of thinking and living in my relationships to others, if I give and engage in goodness giving without doing it for attention seeking? Yeah,

and I almost would add to that, I feel like it's the natural progression of just how it goes as we're growing closer to God, you know, our natural inclination is going to be to not pat ourselves on when he's you know what I mean, when, when it's being actuated by him, you know? So I think that that's just the the less we're looking for praise ourselves. Whether we're praising ourselves we're looking for someone else to praise us. That's just basically, it's happening as a result of the activity of God working inside

of us. Yeah, beautiful. You know, I think what Jesus said here, even in this, this what he was speaking here on the mountainside, you know, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works. So he wasn't saying, Don't let people see your good

works. And here he says, if when you give, yeah, he's expecting that you'll continue to give,

right? He goes on, let so men will see your good good works and glorify your Father, right? Who's in heaven, right? So this is the way they were to build the kingdom. This is was the kingdom that Jesus was inviting them into to conquer, right? That the evil hearts that creates this system of one power wanting to conquer another power and to rule another power. Because the real issue was the heart right? Then he was saying, the way you're going to be soldiers in my army and win this battle is to allow me to live in you. So this, this light, this beautiful picture of who God is, your Father in heaven, radiates out and draws other people, right, so that their hearts become changed,

right? Because they see beautiful people. They see beautiful people.

And I don't need to have my defenses up anymore. It's not me against you anymore. This, this is, this is was a this is the spiritual warfare, and God's call, God through the Savior of the world, God is singing to bring human beings together from all walks of life, to pull together us as one family, right? That's beautiful, and that's done by the breaking down of of these prejudices and these these things that we have in front of us to see the beauty of God, that our hearts, we allow our hearts to become changed beautiful. That's beautiful. That's that's what he was calling them to. That's why he's saying, You're the light of the world. You're the salt of the earth. This is the real army to be in, right, right? You know, absolutely free from your hatred, being free from the cycle, and enter into a cycle of receiving and giving and living so that you're free and you're helping others become free, breaking the chains you know of hatred, breaking these cycles and finding the joy of oneness with the Creator Himself,

that's awesome. So we gotta wrap up here. I got a challenge for you as a listener, next time you give, we want to encourage you to give generously, and I'm not this is not a pitch for giving. To support love shape, like, just when you give the next time you tip, the next time you engage in some kind of volunteer stuff, make sure you don't tell anybody you're doing it. Tell as few people as you can outside of needing to plan your participation, and then don't post a bit on social media like literally keep it as secret as possible, and then reflect and ask yourself the question, Does my engagement in giving in charity, whatever that looks like? Does it shift what's happening inside of me when I deliberately reduce the screen coverage or attention it's getting what's happening inside of me as I engage in charity and acts of goodness as secretly as possible. That's my challenge to you. So we wrap up three questions. What's the C from today's episode? How do we what's the takeaway for seeing God? How we see God?

My takeaway would be on how we're seeing God is that the the humbleness of God, that he doesn't do acts of kindness and compassion, looking for some type of self glory, right? That he does these things to help others, right? Right? To lift the other person has nothing to do with him, so that's why he's saying, don't be like the hypocrites, right? I give with a genuine perspective of, hey, I want to help you, and you'll be lifted up, right? And you'll find joy, true joy, joy that satisfies, right, right? That's what I see. I see God. I see God in that picture, in his the humbleness of God,

absolutely I agree. God gives and gives to all of us because He's genuinely concerned with our well being. That's the only motive

that's awesome. Experience. How do we experience that? What do we do to experience?

Yeah, as far as experience, I think it's the same. Giving is a good thing. Giving is a blessing. Amen, like it is such a blessing. Give simply because God has given to you, like, That's it, like, let it flow out, like it comes to you and it flows out from

you, yeah. So give your time, literally, offer to take care of the kids. Go the extra mile, fold that laundry, whatever. Just Just practice giving absolutely, and that with secret giving, and you're saying this is a channel for experiencing its power

Absolutely. And don't worry about everything else. Don't worry, am I being taken advantage of? Is Don't, don't worry about any of that. Just do it because it's the right thing to do.

Let that become who you are. Yeah, absolutely. So

last one, sorry, that said Len, looking for nothing in return. I think that lending, giving your time, your talent, your means, but don't look for anything in return, right? Right? Because the human heart looks for something in return. We want to be acknowledged, right? If I give you a birthday present, I want you to say thank you. If you don't say thank you, then I'm going to get irritated, rooted saying, But from God's perspective, I'm going to give you a birthday present. I don't care if you say thank right. I just wanted to give it, just to give it so. But I want to go back to sorry experience, and then, similar to what Octavia was saying, that you know, as you see, how God is treating you and living towards you, then, then, then, like we talked about last night, we were having a little time, a little study in Ephesians five, chapter one, where Paul was encouraging the believers to imitate God.

Imitate God, right? God

does, like David said, is not doing anything. He's doing it from a completely unselfish perspective. Do the same. So you'll find and you'll find that experience, that living to find the greatest joy and the greatest happiness and living in harmony with the way God created

you to live. So the experience and living are kind of intimately connected, that we experience the power of a giving heart as we live a giving life. There's kind of just inside of all there.

When you look at God and the way he created us, he's the fountain of life. So we're receiving life from him, and as we give it to others, it flows back to God, and there's this circle there, right? The circle of benevolence, a circle of love. And that's really the law of life for the universe, right? And

that's sustainable, that that framework of giving creates a. Sustainable civilization, right? Yeah. So I want to emphasize again, one of our core resources here at Love shaped life is coaching. We offer spiritual wellness coaching if you're wrestling with how to allow your life to be shaped by the giving heart of God. We'd love to journey with you one of our coaches, just to share in the journey we're trying to discover what that means for us. And so we'd love to just journey with you into what is new territory for all of us, leaning into this giving heart of God. So you can find you can connect with one of our coaches at love shaped dot life, slash coaching. Smash that Like button. Share with a friend, subscribe. We would love to journey with you, even if it's just hearing from you. In relationship to our podcasts, you can email, email us at Hello, at love shaped dot life, until next time, lean in to the love shaped life. Thank you so much for tuning into the love shaped life podcast. We hope you find this podcast not only inspirational, but life changing. Here at love shaped life, we're working to create a community, an online community, in fact, where individuals like you can connect with each other and lean into God's love together.

We also provide spiritual wellness coaching, where we walk alongside people to help them to see the beauty of God's character, discover if there's anything that might be hindering them from finding the healing power that's in that love.

And as you might have expected, love shaped life is crowdfunded. Individuals like you give generously to make this dream a reality. If you'd like to join that crowd, you can give today at love shaped dot life you.