Matthew 6 opens with a warning that fits social media perfectly. Don’t do good things “to be seen of them,” in 6:1. Jesus names three religious habits: giving to the poor, praying and fasting. He shows how each can become a performance. People who do them for applause “have their reward,” in 6:2, 5 and 16. The applause is all they get. But the Father “which seeth in secret” rewards openly, in 6:4, 6 and 18. The rest of the chapter asks where our treasure and hearts are, in 6:19–21. It says we can’t serve two masters, in 6:24. And it tells anxious people to consider the lilies and the birds, because the Father knows what we need, in 6:25–34. Be careful with that last part. Worry is real, and for some youth anxiety is a health condition that needs care. The Savior’s point is that they’re known and loved, not that anxious people lack faith.
Matthew 7:1 sounds like “never judge anything.” The Joseph Smith Translation clarifies it. Don’t judge unrighteously, but judge with righteous judgment, as in John 7:24. The mote-and-beam image in 7:3–5 is almost comic. A man with a plank in his eye tries to pick a speck out of someone else’s. Then Jesus invites us to ask, seek and knock, in 7:7–11. He gives the Golden Rule in 7:12. He teaches that false prophets are known “by their fruits,” in 7:15–20. That’s a useful test for the endless claims youth see online. In 7:21–23, the JST changes “I never knew you” to “Ye never knew me.” It’s about knowing Him, not just saying the right words.
The sermon ends with two builders, in 7:24–27. Both heard the same words. The same rain, floods and wind hit both houses. The only difference was what each did with what he heard. The manual points youth to pages 4–5 of For the Strength of Youth, about building on Jesus Christ as a foundation. It also points to Helaman 5:12. The crowd was astonished because He taught “as one having authority,” in 7:29. For fourteen- to sixteen-year-olds, the heart of this week is being real. An audience of one, and a faith that’s lived, not posted.
