What are some bad motives that we need to avoid?
James 3:15Jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
1 John 3:12We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.
Jealousy is a terrible motive for any action. If we let jealousy take root in our hearts, our actions will be selfish and cause hurt for others.
Genesis 27:11-12“But look,” Jacob replied to Rebekah, “my brother, Esau, is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth. What if my father touches me? He’ll see that I’m trying to trick him, and then he’ll curse me instead of blessing me.”
When deceit and trickery are behind our actions, our motives for that action are clearly not good. One indicator of this may be our fear of getting caught; it is a clue that we are up to something wrong.
1 Samuel 18:17-19One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my older daughter, Merab, as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real warrior by fighting the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.” “Who am I, and what is my family in Israel that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” David exclaimed. “My father’s family is nothing!” So when the time came for Saul to give his daughter Merab in marriage to David, he gave her instead to Adriel, a man from Meholah.
Proverbs 10:11The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain; the words of the wicked conceal violent intentions.
When we are motivated to harm someone, we are clearly being influenced by jealousy or some other evil desire.
Ezekiel 33:31“So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.”
Matthew 23:13“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.”
Romans 2:24No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
Trying to improve our position with others by pretending to be close to God is a bad motive for any action and is displeasing to God. This kind of hypocrisy will drive believers and unbelievers alike away from God.
Matthew 6:1“Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.”
Galatians 1:10Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Our motive for doing good should never be to be admired by other people. The good we do should be done to please God alone.
Matthew 22:15-18“Teacher,” they [some Pharisees] said, “we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” he said. “Why are you trying to trap me?”
When we take up a conversation with someone just to trap them and make them look bad, we are clearly driven by bad motives.
