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So don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts. 1 Corinthians 4:5
After reflecting on this Scripture, it’s easy to say that God is way more interested in our motives even more than our actions. Wow! Friends, what drives our motives really matters to God. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 says that ‘Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts!”
As a people person myself, this is sometimes hard for me. There are times when I will shy away from hard conversations or what I know God has put on my heart because of what people may think or how they will respond. However, this Scripture is clear that only God examines our hearts and as long as our motives are to please and honor God, we can rest and walk in obedience; shutting down the noise of people-pleasing and posture our hearts to serve Him.
God is a jealous God for His children. Because He is the only One who can examine and expose our motives, He wants us to know that He sees what no one else can see and He’s the only one who will bring light into the darkest places of our hearts.
So, how do we walk in pure motives? It starts with surrendering our flesh to the Holy Spirit. For me it’s sometimes as simple as praying ‘Lord, my Spirit is willing but my flesh is weak. Examine my heart, Father, and help me to walk in pure motives. If there is anything impure in me, expose it Father, and bring healing so that I can honor you with my motives today.’
A few other questions I will ask myself to make sure my motives are pure and postured toward Heaven are:
1. If only God could see what I do behind closed doors and there were never any accolades, would I still do it for Him?
2. Am I doing this for applause? Do I want others to praise what I’ve done or am I truly living for an audience of One?
3. If honoring God with my motives and what He has called me to do brought trouble to my life, would I still do it or would I choose to be comfortable?
4. If I was completely misunderstood, especially by the closest people to me, would I still do what God has asked me to do?
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