Getting isn’t represented as an option here. Both people are going to get. Jesus isn’t telling us to refuse to give in order to get. Our heavenly Father loves to reward His children. If we give and then refuse to be rewarded for it, we are saying that we did it out of the generosity of our heart. The truth is, we don’t have any generosity in our heart. Those who try to do things out of the generosity of their heart end up bragging about it.

Sooner or later we will want credit for our giving. We may not be so blatant as to blow a trumpet. But, we will sneak it into a conversation somehow. God has a system that cures that. We give; He gives it back to us with interest. With this system, there is never any room for our bragging.

Bragging causes God to resist us because we have become proud. With God’s system, we can do our giving in secret and He will reward us.

Four wonderful things come out of that:

1. First, we don’t get tempted to brag and lose our reward.
2. Second, the needs of the needy get met.
3. Third, God prospers us for giving and we have a lot more to give.
4. Fourth, we see how well God’s system works, our faith is increased, and we start believing God to use us for even greater things. Thus the disciple grows into greater and greater aspects of their relationship with God, their self, and other people.