“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” - 1 Corinthians 13:3 …God looks at the things we do, and He also looks at our motives. Today’s blog entry deals with having pure motives.
Have you ever seen someone that was only being nice to another person because they wanted to get something from that person (and once they got what they wanted, they abandoned the person)? If you have witnessed something like this, you may have thought to yourself something such as “that’s a shame, they are only being nice to them because….” Something on the inside of most (if not all) of us would probably get an uneasy feeling if we witnessed something like that. And with that being said, we should be mindful of the fact that God knows the motives behind everything we do.
Whether it’s helping another person, going to church, preaching, etc…God is looking at both the action and the motive. In Matthew 6:5 Jesus said “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they my be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
Love should be the motivation behind the things we do. Jesus Christ loves us, and laid down His life so that we could have eternal life. We should follow His example of love in our daily lives, and examine ourselves to make sure our motives are Christ-centered and not self-centered. If we help someone out, we shouldn’t try to use it as leverage down the road to force them to do something for us. And don’t get me wrong, I understand that it can be difficult when you have been there to help someone when they were going through something, and yet that same person is nowhere to be found when you’re going through something. But even in a situation like that we shouldn’t hold a grudge.
Matthew 5:44-46 says “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?”
If we realize that we have had the wrong motives in a certain area of our life, we should repent and ask God to help us overcome it (see 1 John 1:9). Don’t allow a past mistake to keep you from moving forward in your walk with Christ.
“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7
Have you ever seen someone that was only being nice to another person because they wanted to get something from that person (and once they got what they wanted, they abandoned the person)? If you have witnessed something like this, you may have thought to yourself something such as “that’s a shame, they are only being nice to them because….” Something on the inside of most (if not all) of us would probably get an uneasy feeling if we witnessed something like that. And with that being said, we should be mindful of the fact that God knows the motives behind everything we do.
Whether it’s helping another person, going to church, preaching, etc…God is looking at both the action and the motive. In Matthew 6:5 Jesus said “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they my be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”
Love should be the motivation behind the things we do. Jesus Christ loves us, and laid down His life so that we could have eternal life. We should follow His example of love in our daily lives, and examine ourselves to make sure our motives are Christ-centered and not self-centered. If we help someone out, we shouldn’t try to use it as leverage down the road to force them to do something for us. And don’t get me wrong, I understand that it can be difficult when you have been there to help someone when they were going through something, and yet that same person is nowhere to be found when you’re going through something. But even in a situation like that we shouldn’t hold a grudge.
Matthew 5:44-46 says “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?”
If we realize that we have had the wrong motives in a certain area of our life, we should repent and ask God to help us overcome it (see 1 John 1:9). Don’t allow a past mistake to keep you from moving forward in your walk with Christ.
“But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7