If there is one thing that I feel God continuously deals
with me about, it’s my motives. My
motives for speaking, motives for staying silent, motives for singing, motives
for serving, motives for wanting to succeed, motives...motives…motives! Believe it or not, He even deals with my
motives for doing the tiniest thing like tweeting! Tweeting?
Yes, tweeting! “Why am I about to say what I am about to say?
Why am I posting what I am about to post?” WHY? WHY? WHY?
OK…ENOUGH!!! I get it! Motives are important to God!
Proverbs 21:2 says; “We
justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives.” Now why would He do that? Simply put, “Mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight
down the road.” Proverbs 21:8. The
purer the motives, the purer the journey, the faster we effectively complete
our life’s assignment with fewer distractions and less emotional casualties.
OK, transition into awkward embarrassing story to illustrate
what I mean. Bear in mind, I was a
broken-hearted teenager. I was mad, I
felt used, hurt, and cheated. I am sure
you get the picture. Oh come on, like no
one else has ever had the “I’ll show you!” rise up from within them! Long story short, relationship has an ugly
ending and now I feel compelled to write the perfect “exit letter”.
“Dear Un-Named
Ex-Boyfriend”
“Blah blah blah…”
(And more unimportant irrelevant junk)
“By the way…One day when I am receiving my
Grammy Award you will be sorry that you ever let me go!”
What!!! I went from “See ya later” to binding
myself to the near impossible goal of receiving a Grammy Award just as payback
to a guy I knew for less than a year? Houston
we have got a problem! In case you do
not know this about me, nearing 20 years later and yep…still no Grammy. Why? Because I believe motivation built on the
wrong foundation does not have the lasting power to endure till the end.
Wait Melissa, it sounds like you are talking about two
different things, motives and motivation.
Motivation is rooted in the
motive. It’s the reason people are
motivated to do a thing. Subconsciously or consciously, motives have an
intention to produce a certain outcome. If our motive is love, we are motivated to perform acts of love with the outcome
of having a great relationship. If our
motive is insecurity, we will be motivated to respond to things based on our
insecurities to subconsciously protect ourselves from rejection, etc.
The beautiful thing about God is that He is God. He is the only ONE capable of searching the
heart and discerning the motives behind people’s actions. So when we are tempted to judge people’s
actions and their motives, we would be wise to leave that up to the only One
who sees all. “Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He
will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of
the heart.” 1Cor 4:5
However, when it comes to ourselves, He has given us a
powerful tool to expose and remove impure motives from our own hearts. The bible says in Hebrews 4:11-13 “For the word of God is living and powerful,
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and
spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents (motives) of the heart.”
So what motive is God looking for? What motive has the lasting power to endure
all things to end accompanied by a clear conscious? You probably guessed it by now! Love! “Love
is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the
truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1Cor 13:4-8
So the next time I go to tweet, write a blog, make a phone
call, send a text, join a ministry, or I do that thing, whatever that “thing”
may be; I am going to ask myself these questions. Is this kind?
Am I doing this out of impatience, envy or to boast? Am I being proud, or am I dishonoring anyone? Am I just looking out for myself or doing this
because I am angry? Am I trying to
payback someone because of the record of wrong I am keeping of them? Am I telling that persons business because I
am gossiping out of evil and rejoicing in their shortcomings? Is what I am doing based on the truth of God’s
word? Does it protect or expose people’s
weaknesses? Have I trusted that situation
or that person to God, and am I believing the best?
Maybe this goal is as far reaching as my yet unattained Grammy
Award. Oh well! I am still going to try,
still going to press, and still to going to reach toward it because love perseveres and LOVE is the only thing that NEVER FAILS!
