Matthew 6:33
What does Matthew 6:33 mean?
But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
The short answer
Matthew 6:33 is a verse about priority. Jesus does not tell his listeners to stop caring about food, drink, and clothing — the everyday necessities he has just been naming. He tells them to reorder the list. "Seek first God's Kingdom" means putting God's reign and God's righteousness at the top, so that everything else finds its proper place underneath.
This is harder than it sounds, because seeking first is not a one-time decision. It is ongoing work, lived out in the gap between who we are and who we ought to be. A disciple is still a flawed person — think of Simon Peter — but a flawed person who is aiming at the will of God. Seeking the Kingdom first means being willing to clear away whatever competes with that aim, whatever pulls God's will down the list.
Then comes the promise: "all these things will be given to you as well." Notice the verb. These things are given, not earned. Seeking the Kingdom is not a technique for getting food and clothing; it is trusting a Father whose generosity runs ahead of our asking. The same pattern appears in Solomon's famous prayer, where he asks for wisdom and receives wealth and honor besides — God's giving exceeds the request. And it appears again a chapter later in Matthew, where Jesus pictures a parent who, asked for bread, does not hand over a stone.
So the verse holds two things together. First, a demand: God's reign belongs in first place, and discipleship means the continual, sometimes uncomfortable work of keeping it there. Second, an assurance: the God who asks for that priority is not stingy with the rest. The necessities of life come as gifts from a Father who wills our well-being, which frees us from the anxious scramble the surrounding verses describe.
What scholars say
These excerpts answer two sides of the verse: the first explains what it means for God's reign to hold first place on a disciple's priority list, even for someone who remains a sinner; the second explores the promise clause, comparing "these things" in Jesus' saying with Solomon's prayer to show a God whose generosity exceeds human asking.
“We live in tension between what we are and what we ought to be. The peace of God that passes all understanding was not designed to remove that tension. It is in that tension that we throw ourselves anew on God's grace and mature in the direction of the Father's love. The disciple remains a sinner (Simon Peter, for example), but a sinner who is aiming at the will of God. All of this means that the reign of God has first place on the disciple's priority list. Jesus expressed this in various ways: "Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matt. 6:33). This means getting rid of anything that interferes with doing the will of God (Mark 9:42–48).”
“In Jesus’ utterance, “these things” are food, drink, and clothing; in Solomon’s purview they are wealth and power. But the point is the same. YHWH’s generosity is well beyond human need or human asking, because YHWH wills for those who pray an abundance of well-being that can only come as God’s gift. The Father-God to whom Solomon prays is not a Father who gives a stone or a snake (Matt. 7:9–10). Like any generous parent, this God is one who gives bread and fish … all necessary sustenance that causes life as well-being.”
What it means for you
For most of us, the competition for first place is not dramatic wickedness — it is the ordinary, legitimate worry about bills, groceries, and what to wear. Matthew 6:33 invites you to notice what actually sits at the top of your priority list and to do the honest work of moving God's will back up. That work never fully ends, and the tension it creates is not a sign of failure; it is the space where trust grows.
Practically, this might mean letting a specific worry become a prompt for prayer instead of a spiral, and treating what you have — meals, clothes, sustenance — as gifts from a generous Father rather than trophies of your own striving.
Matthew 6 in context
Matthew 6 sits in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. The chapter opens with warnings against practicing piety for show — giving, praying, and fasting to be seen — and includes the Lord's Prayer. Jesus then turns to money and worry: you cannot serve both God and wealth, and anxious fretting over food, drink, and clothing cannot add an hour to your life. Look at the birds and the wildflowers, he says; your heavenly Father knows what you need. Verse 33 is the climax of that argument — the alternative to anxiety is a reordered priority.