EXAMINING OUR MOTIVES

Who can we trust to mean what they say and do what they promise? That kind of person is a rare treasure.

And what about ourselves? How do our words and actions line up with the motives in our hearts?

Why do we do the things we do?

Our motives matter to God because God cares more about who we are becoming than what we are achieving.

Our motives determine who we do, who we are, and who we become.

People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.

Proverbs 16:2

Are we doing the right thing because it is the right things or are we trying to impress others, win their approval or make ourselves look good?

We won’t have good motives if we don’t pay attention to our motives. If we want to have good motives then we have to learn what good and bad ones are.  Once we know good motives there will always be that moment when we have to make a choice.

We have to step away from emotions that have us acting in bad faith and trust God as we choose to do what is right for the right reason no matter what others say or think.

One of the best ways to keep our motives pure is to ask God to show us the real reasons we do the things we do.

So Loving God we ask today that You would help us to see ourselves and our motives as You see us.

You’ve told us:

I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.

Jeremiah 17:10

And so our prayer today is:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

Jesus kept things simple when He told us we should love God with all we are and our neighbour as ourselves.  We will sort out lots of bad motives if we will simply run them through that simple test.  Let’s do that today.