An excerpt from "Christ Centered House of God.org" entitled, "Wrong Motives" states: "Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (NLT). God is interested in our motives even more than our actions.1 Corinthians 4:5 says that, when Jesus comes again, “He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” God wants us to know that He sees what no one else sees. He knows why we do what we do and desires to reward those whose hearts are right toward Him. We can keep our motives pure by continually surrendering every part of our hearts to the control of the Holy Spirit. Here are some specific questions to help us evaluate our own motives:
- If no one ever knows what I am doing (giving, serving, sacrificing), would I still do it?
- If there was no visible payoff for doing this, would I still do it?
- Would I joyfully take a lesser position if God asked me to?
- Am I doing this for the praise of others or how it makes me feel?
- If I had to suffer for continuing what God has called me to do, would I continue?
- If others misunderstand or criticize my actions, will I stop?
- If those whom I am serving never show gratitude or repay me in any way, will I still do it?
- Do I judge my success or failure based upon my faithfulness to what God has asked me to do, or how I compare with others?
Motivation becomes an issue when we are not honest with ourselves about why we are doing things. When we give the outward appearance of obeying God but our hearts are hard, God knows. We are deceiving ourselves and others, too. The only way we can operate from pure motives is when we “walk in the Spirit”(Galatians 5:16, 25). When we allow Him to control every part of us, then our desire is to please Him and not ourselves. Our flesh constantly clamors to exalt itself, and only when we walk in the Spirit will we not gratify those desires of our flesh.” This article may be viewed at: Wrong Motives/christcenteredhouseofgod.org
Reference: James 4:3
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