Secret Motives

Read Proverbs 21

People may be right in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their heart.

Proverbs 21:2

At first glance, this proverb seems to be contradicting itself. How can our heads tell us one thing while our hearts tell God another? Yet exactly that often happens. We can talk ourselves into believing that we are acting correctly because we can rationalize our behavior. Our feelings (heart), however, often show the reality no matter what we say.

Perhaps outwardly we do nothing wrong, but the proverb reveals that God is more concerned about our secret motives. For example, by tithing each week we act in obedience. Yet if we tithe with bitter resentment in our hearts, we might fool our neighbors, but we will not fool God.

So even “good” deeds lose their value if we lack the right heart. Ultimately, our motives should be to please God. Our actions become worthless if we seek to please only ourselves or to impress others.

A WORD FOR TODAY

God sees what we excuse and ignore.

Lord, examine my heart and remove any unclean motives.