Private practice
by Emma Strelan
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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 (Matthew 6:1).
Read Matthew 6:1–6,16–21
I’m not generally a sports watcher, but this year, I really got into watching the tennis while the Australian Open was on. I was in awe of how naturally the pros seemed to pull off such high-level play. Things that, when I go out for a casual hit, require me to think carefully about my foot placement and timing of the swing, they seem to do with barely a conscious thought.
But the skills of these best-in-the-world tennis players on display on screens across the nation only come about because of how much practice they do in private.
The point of the practice is that the players don’t have to think about what they’re doing when it comes to the big games; it’s just instinctive.
Jesus says a similar thing about spiritual practices (or disciplines). You practice them in private so that in public, you do not have to prove anything; it just comes naturally.
That way, when we’re in front of other people, we’re not trying to impress them. We don’t need to. We can just be who we are, serving out of a love for God.
The things we practice spiritually aren’t needed to prove to others or God how good we are. But we still need to practice them – because they just don’t come naturally.
After getting inspired by watching the tennis and dusting off the old racquet, I’ve decided I’m not too interested in getting to the Australian Open. I think I’ll spend more time practising what Jesus preached instead.
Lord, you know our hearts and motivations. Sometimes, we don’t always have the right reasons for the things we do in public. Help us to practise your words in private so that in public, we don’t have anything to prove and can simply be serving out of our love for you. Amen.
Emma works as a freelance videographer in Adelaide, and she recently joined Lutheran Media as its Production Assistant. Emma also studies theology and is heavily involved in youth camping ministry around South Australia. In her free time, she eats a lot of cheese, attempts to grow vegetables (the tomatoes have been the best success so far), and has committed the majority of her ‘casual reading’ time this year to getting through War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
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