I’ve always been fascinated by the President’s Secret Service guards. They are so cool looking, standing there with their dark shades and earpieces. They are so secretive! Only recently have I come to realize the Lord has called me (and all other believers) to secret service. Not the type of secret service that protects the President from bad guys, but the kind that protects my prideful heart from what John Ortberg calls “approval addiction” in his bookThe Life You’ve Always Wanted. All mankind struggles with pride. It is our prideful heart that leads to approval addiction – doing things for the approval or accolades of others. Jesus discusses this problem in Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. When our service for the Lord is tainted with a desire to be praised by man, we lose the opportunity to be rewarded by God. To overcome our approval addiction, Jesus recommends secret service. We are to serve the Lord and minister to others in secret ways. He suggests doing things for people and not telling anyone. When no one but the Lord knows about our random acts of kindness it helps to keep our motives pure. The passage also says we will be rewarded by the Lord one day for these acts of secret service. Obviously, all of our service cannot be secret, but we should do a fair amount of unannounced service, so we don’t fall into the trap of pride. Do something today no one else knows about and be rewarded of the Lord.