In Search Of Pure Motives

In Search of Pure Motives

Read: Matthew 6:1-18

“Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Matthew 6:4, 6, 18

“Man sees your actions, but God, your motives.”

—Thomas à Kempis

IN WORD Three times Jesus says that the Father will reward what is done for Him in secret: once each with respect to our giving, our praying, and our fasting. By implication, we can apply this to other acts of devotion as well. God does not want us showing off for other people, especially when He is the audience. It cheapens the gift, nullifies the sense of sacrifice, and calls into question the devotion. It substitutes the reward of knowing Him with cheaper prizes. It undoes everything our obedience to Him is supposed to accomplish.

Why is this so hard for us? Because we are a tangled mess of fears and insecurities. We have issues of pride and ego. We seek temporal comfort, status, and approval. With all of these variables at work, our motives are rarely pure. When we do something for God, are we doing it for public affirmation? because we want to bargain with Him? from insecurity or fear? It’s hard to know.

One way God uses to clarify our intentions—for our sake, of course, since He knows them already—is to require us to relate to Him in private. There is a public side to our relationship with God—we share our faith, pray together, and demonstrate love, for example—but it must always begin in private. If we follow this rule and find that there is no joy in it, we have discovered exactly what God knew all along: We were doing it for reasons other than love for Him. Private devotion is His primary method for exposing an impure heart. It removes all pretense and asks us if anything is left.

IN DEED Do you ever wonder about your real motives for serving God? Do you relate to Him well in private? Take away the audience and see. Get behind closed doors and examine what’s left in your relationship with Him. It can be a humbling experience, but it’s a necessary one. And, according to Jesus, it never goes unrewarded.