The Motive Tree

Do you ever really stop to think about why you do what you do? What is the true motive our heart?

It’s easy to say “we do it for Jesus or it’s for the glory of God;” yet many times the reality is it’s to please others or so that people will recognize us.

I remember early in ministry that my motive was more to prove myself than to please God. We worked hard to see our youth ministry grow and we really loved our students but if I’m honest, I was concerned about how we compared to other strong youth ministries.

1 Corinthians 3 speaks of the day when we stand before God and everything our life represents passes through the fire. Verse 13 says “his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.”

There will be a day when the motives of our hearts are revealed. Paul goes on to say in chapter 4, verse 5 – “Wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.”

Why do you do what you do? When everything is stripped away, what is the real motive of your heart?

One day Satan accuses Job of serving God for the wrong motive. He basically said “the only reason he serves You is because you bless him.” I know some Christians like that.

• What if God never blessed you again?
• What if God never answered another prayer?
• What if no one ever saw what we do or recognized us?

Many believe the theme of Job is – “why do Christians suffer?” A better theme of Job could be – “Why do we serve God?”

My prayer today is that God would examine our hearts and that our motives would always be pleasing to Him. We’re praying for you and you’re team this weekend!

Larry