Motives



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     JI Packer once said,

"We need to remember that in God's sight, motivation is an integral element of action, and any motivation that exalts self will render our work rotten to the core."

    If there is one thing in our life that must be examined daily, it would be our motives.  All works of righteousness such as giving money to the poor, preaching or teaching the Word, praying, even following Jesus and going to church can be done for the wrong reasons. Our actions may create a perception that we are holy and righteous yet what is seen on the outside is inconsistent with what's happening inside the heart. In short, motives reveal our true character and the true state of our heart. The Bible is replete with examples of this and we shall see that all wrong motives come from a heart that ultimately seeks only self-exaltation.


Wrong Motive on Good Works:
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 6:1 (ESV)

Right Motive on Good Works :

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." -Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

Wrong Motive on Pastoring and Preaching :

'Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry...."  -Philippians 1:15a (ESV)

Right Motive on Pastoring and Preaching :

"...but others from good will. The latter do it out of love...." -Philippians 1:15b-16a (ESV)

Wrong Motive on Giving :

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.."

- 2 Corinthians 9:7a (ESV)

Right Motive on Giving :

"...for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7b (ESV)

Wrong motive on following Christ and attending church :

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." - John 6:26 (ESV)

Right Motive on following Christ and attending church :

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.        -Matthew 6:33 (ESV)

    I hope that you see the point. How then should we examine our motives? Admittedly, it's difficult to be objective when we have to render judgment about ourselves. We always think we're right and innocent (Proverbs 21:2)!

Prayer

JI Packer further says,

"Because of the self-absorbed habits of our sinful hearts, the only way to anything like pure motives is to pray persistently about the things we do and ask ourselves constantly before the Lord why we are doing them and how they fit in with God's glory and the good of His people."

 We examine our hearts and thus our motivations through prayer. King David prayed like this,

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

    Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

    and lead me in the way everlasting!

- Psalm 139:23-24 (ESV)

  If we think of prayer as a means to ask God for things and make our dreams come true, then we severely limit it's intended purpose. Prayer, more importantly, sanctifies our desires and motivations as the Holy Spirit convicts us to stop thinking about ourselves and what we want. In prayer, we ask God what he wants and thus align our will and desires with our Father (Matthew 6:9-10). So practice self-examination through prayer before embarking to do something. Acknowledge your inability to discern your motives by your own. Seek God who searches the hearts of men, who exposes what is hidden in shame, who purges all self-centeredness, and walk humbly in his ways (Psalm 19:12-14).

Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

- 1 John 4:7 (ESV)

The only acceptable motive for obeying God is love. Right motives come from a heart that is passionate to obey the great commandments: to love God and love others (Matthew 22:35-39). Loving God is seeing with our hearts that God is compellingly beautiful. According to John Piper,

"His glory-his beauty-compels your admiration and delight. He becomes your supreme treasure....God is our supreme pleasure. We prefer above all else to know him and see him and be with him and be like him. " 

And true love for God brings about true love for people. Notice that Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Wrong motives arise from a strong desire to exalt oneself. Think of how powerful this desire is in our lives. In effect, Jesus is saying that we must love our neighbor with the same intensity that we seek our own gratification. John Piper comments,

"In other words make your self-seeking the measure of your self-giving. When Jesus says, "Love your neighbor as yourself," the word "as" is very radical: "Love your neighbor as yourself." That's a BIG word: "As!" It means: If you are energetic in pursuing your own happiness, be energetic in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are creative in pursuing your own happiness, be creative in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. If you are persevering in pursuing your own happiness, be persevering in pursuing the happiness of your neighbor. In other words, Jesus is not just saying: seek for your neighbor the same things you seek for yourself, but also seek them in the same way—the same zeal and energy and creativity and perseverance."

This then is how we deal with our motives :

1. Examine them critically through prayer, seeking God to cleanse us from evil desires.
2. Let all our acts of obedience to God be motivated by love.

Hope this helps!