I used to feel shame about my eagerness to find something to post online. I longed for your applause and approval. But the true Christian thing to do is to fade into the background, right?

Jesus has something to say about how we interact with other sets of eyes.

Jesus started His teaching on audiences by meeting us where we are: obsessed with the eyes of other people. In Matthew 6:1, we hear Him open with this warning: “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”

Apparently, you never needed smartphones or social media to chase a stage. It was a temptation long before technology gave us instant and constant access to the masses. It is part of the human condition to want to impress others.

But Jesus tells us we have the wrong audience. He tells us we’re chasing the wrong platform.

He continued in His warning: “But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3-4). Give in secret. Give up on the audience. Commit to hiddenness. The end. Right? But that is not the end. There is more to verse four: “Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” Shockingly, Jesus didn’t judge our love to be seen and celebrated. He actually promoted living for an audience, just not the one we are used to. He also didn’t tell us to give up on being noticed.

He said to live to be noticed by the right Person!

There is a better audience who dwells in the secrecy of your private life. What a surprising vision He’s casting for our lives! He doesn’t say, “Stop living to be seen. Stop trying to be noticed.” Instead, Jesus calls us to live entirely for one audience.

Jesus loves our hunger to be seen! He loves that we want the validation of someone’s eyes. He just knows human audiences are a poor substitute for who we were really made to live for. We were made to be seen by God. And the knowledge of His gaze on us every hour of every day will transform the way we live.

Because our purpose is not a particular set of tasks that get us noticed. Instead, our purpose is tied to a Person. And when we know that the one we were made for sees everything we do, every action takes on new meaning.

Live to be seen by the one who sees you in secret.

*For deeper reflection, listen to Matthew 6 today!

Curious for more? Take 5 minutes to be inspired in your true purpose through our interview with Kelly!

Adapted from Purposefooled: Why Chasing Your Dreams, Finding Your Calling, and Reaching for Greatness Will Never Be Enough.