What's My MOTIVE?

Whenever we do something for God or people, we need always to be aware of why we're doing the things that we are doing. Many Christians do NOT understand the EXTREME IMPORTANCE of having the right motives when navigating life! They think “well as long as I’m doing a good deed, that’s all that matters to God……. WRONG!!! People don’t understand the IMPORTANCE Jesus puts on the motives of your heart. They think it’s all about the outward, but remember the scripture in 1 Samuel 16:7” …. God sees not as man sees, for MAN LOOKS at the OUTWARD appearance, but the Lord LOOKS at the HEART. You can be doing a good deed and look like a great person in the eyes of people, but in your heart, you did it for attention and fame! The Lord sees the real reason why you did it!

Remember, we are a 3-part being---spirit, soul, and body. The spirit man on the inside of you is the real you! You are not just a body, and mind……. you are a spirit and who you are in your heart is WHO YOU ARE! Did you know that you can present your outward man as good to the public and not really be good in your heart? People do it all the time! In the world, we call those people fake, phony, and two-faced! Have you ever had men tell you ladies for example, that they love you so much?! And say they want to marry you and honor you! They buy you dinners and gifts and APPEAR from outward, as a “good” guy, but inwardly, they want to have sex with you and leave you after that! So, you give in and sleep with the man, only for him to leave you brokenhearted! You thought he was a good guy, but you didn’t know the true motive of his heart.

I remember being a young naive woman in my early twenties, street witnessing with an older male minister about Jesus. We would always talk about the gospel and ministry work, nothing ever more than that. He seemed like he was a good man who loved the Lord and would preach on the trains and buses. I remember one night having a dream from the Lord about this minister and me preaching around the city.

In the dream, after a long day of preaching, we sat on a park bench. I turned in the opposite direction to reach for something and then came back to the minister, he held my hand and started licking the back of my hand! In the dream, I was shocked, I never saw it coming! I didn’t even know he like me! I woke up from the dream totally surprised! The Lord was obviously telling me the heart of this man towards me, even though his outward actions were saying the opposite. The preacher appeared one way in public, but in his heart, he wanted sex from me.

So many ministers of the gospel get in trouble with this all the time! They look so good on the outside, but on the inside, they're lustful. greedy, hypocritical, jealous, and wicked! These preachers also do things for the attention and glory of man! Guys, this goes on in ministry maybe about 75 to 80 percent of the time.

Being Clean on The Inside, Not Only the Outside

It doesn’t matter how “good” you are on the outside if your heart isn’t right. You have to make sure your heart is good and clean on the inside of you as well! In Luke’s gospel, Jesus talks about making sure your heart is clean inwardly, not just on the outside.

Luke 11:37-44

37 Now when He had spoken, a Pharisee *asked Him to have lunch with him; and He went in, and reclined at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he was surprised that He had not first ceremonially washed before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees CLEAN THE OUTSIDE of the cup and of the platter; but INSIDE of you, YOU ARE FULL OF ROBBERY AND WICKEDNESS. 40 You foolish ones, DID NOT HE WHO MADE THE OUTSIDE MAKE THE INSIDE ALSO? 41 But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the chief seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. 44 Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.”

In this section of scripture, Jesus was dealing with the Pharisee's hearts and motives. Let’s back up to verses 39-40, “Now you Pharisees CLEAN THE OUTSIDE of the cup and of the platter; but INSIDE of you, YOU ARE FULL OF ROBBERY AND WICKEDNESS. 40 You foolish ones, DID NOT HE WHO MADE THE OUTSIDE MAKE THE INSIDE ALSO? The Pharisees from the natural looked very polished and respectable! They looked like real men of God! Many Christians of today would have followed their example. They wore fancy robes and studied the scriptures even though they had no revelation of the word. They placed importance on being righteous outwardly, and totally disregarded being righteous inwardly! Jesus was simply addressing this issue that they had overlooked. Jesus said the same God who made the outside of you, has made the inside of you, so don’t NEGLECT IT!

Jesus basically said they were devils in their hearts…” but INSIDE of you, YOU ARE FULL OF ROBBERY AND WICKEDNESS.”

Then we go to verse 41, “But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.”

He encouraged them to give what they had as charity to get their hearts right with God. He also called out the Pharisees for over-focusing on the other aspects of Christianity and neglecting the most important things, which are justice and showing the love of God to others. The Pharisees wanted the glory of men and honor. Jesus said they were walking dead people that others didn’t know it!

Let's always make sure the INSIDE of our hearts is clean as well as the outside! We need to always be aware of the motives of our hearts and live our Christian walk with the right intentions. Whenever you do something for people and God, you should always ask the question of your heart, "What's my motive?"