Verify Podcast

There are motives behind our daily actions and many times, I have found myself taking decisions out of selfishness, the need for reward or recognition, competition with others, and sometimes even fear.

Sometimes we give an offering in church, not primarily because we want to support God’s work, but simply because our minds are focused on the harvest of blessings we will receive in return. Sometimes we honour people, not because we genuinely respect them, but because we anticipate a favour from them in future.

But so what if my motives are not exactly noble? Why should this be an issue for me? Well the answer is that it should matter to us, because it matters to God.

Jesus tells us that we can fast, pray and even give gifts, with the wrong motives (Matthew 6:1-18). It’s also possible to serve in church and even preach the gospel with impure motives (Phil 1:15-17).  Wrong motives can cost us our rewards for the good we do (Matthew 6:1b) and answers to our prayers (James 4:3).

Prov 16:2 lets us know that no matter how noble our actions are, our motives are weighed by God, and on the last day when we all stand before Jesus, our private motives will matter to Him (1 Cor 4:5 b)

I pray for myself today as I pray for you my listener, that the things that matter to God will matter to us. That God will reveal wrong motives and give us the grace, not just to do the right things, but to do things for the right reasons, Amen.