The motive behind the action!

Motives are our inward thought and reasoning for why we do things.  People can't see our motives, only we and God know the reason for the things that we are saying and doing.
Doing the right things with the wrong motives is like doing the wrong things before God.  It is even considered sinful by God!  Why?  Because to God it matters more our heart and the condition of our moral compass than trying to show the world how holy we are so that we can receive recognition. 

"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." Matthew 6:1

 We are to do good deeds before others, so God is praised. Yet, we must be careful not to do those same good deeds in order to receive praise for ourselves.  The praise of others is fickle and short lived. 

         "You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." Matthew 5:14-16

 

Is this a contradiction?  No, What Jesus is teaching is when you do things with the right intention to bring glory to God, it is important that all seem but if you purposely do things for others to see so that you can get the attention than you will loose the reward from God.

Even King David fell into this trap.  He forgot that his real strength came from God.  He decided to take a census of his people.  This census was taken so David could take pride in the strength of his army.  In determining his military strength, he was beginning to trust more in military power than in God.  There is a thin line between feeling confident because you are relying on God's power and becoming proud because you have been used by God for great purposes.

From David's example we learn that an action that may not be wrong in itself can be sinful if it is motivated by greed, arrogance, or selfishness.  Often our motives, not the action itself, contain the sin.  We must constantly weigh our motives before we act. 
If we feel self-sufficient and put confidence in ourselves apart from God, we soon fall to Satan's schemes.  Self-sufficiency pulls us away from God. 

Since no one else but ourselves can examine our thoughts, let us take the necessary time to examine the WHY before the DOING! Let us strive to bring glory to God in all we do, so that when people look at us they see more of Him and a whole lot less of us.