This morning I was brought to the passage in Matthew titled “The Final Judgment”. Where this is not new to me in my reading, I was reminded of the idea that our righteous actions are not even recognized by us.

You see, our task is to spread the gospel and be the example of Christ. I am not instructed to call attention to my actions. I am not instructed to even let anyone know my motives. I am instructed to to the work of and for Christ and His people. The righteous will do the work of Christ and not even realize that they have been righteous.

“³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’” – Matthew 25:37-39 (ESV)

Here Jesus is letting the people know that the righteous will inherit the Kingdom of God and the others will be cast into the eternal fire. He is giving all the reasons for their denotation as righteous or not. He has told them as to what is counted as righteous, providing food, drink, clothing, and visitation. And the people ask when they did or did not provide for Him as indicated. Jesus lets them know that when the action is taken or not taken to anyone, then it is taken or not taken to Him.

“¹Let brotherly love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” – Hebrews 13:1-2 (ESV)

We never know who we are engaging with in this world. In the above verse from Hebrews, the writer points out that we are to just be the example of Christ to all as we may be engaging with an angel sent by God. Again, we find that we are to just be good and spread the gospel and do the work of Christ.

We may be unaware of those we are interacting with and therefore we are to just do the work. When we are doing the work of Christ, we are doing the righteous work we have been assigned, not for selfish gain, but out of love for one another. We will likely be unaware of the righteousness of our actions and know them as only being the example of Christ’s love in the interaction.

It is not important to be aware of righteousness, it is only important to do the work of Christ. Remember that only He can declare us righteous and he will not do so if our heart is rooted actions due to selfish gain. He will declare us righteous when we take actions out of love and obedience to Him.

What actions are you taking that may be declared righteous? Are you taking those actions to be declared righteous? What if you just did the work of Christ as an example of Him and were unaware of the actions or you being declared righteous?