How To Check Your MOTIVES
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” Psalm 139:23 (ESV)
One thing I’ve been having God to do is to search me like the Psalmist asked. Asking God to search you and to reveal/remove any impurity in your heart requires maturity. I don’t have to tell you this but one thing God has been working with me on is selfishness. If we’re being honest a lot of us are selfish. Our world promotes self. We live in a dog eat dog, every man for himself society. Nobody cares about others anymore, we only care about ourselves. Everyone wants to be great but we are doing it at the cost of tearing others down. We can all be selfish. Selfishness is rooted in our sinful nature. But if you want to be a leader you must get rid of your selfish spirit. I was listening to a pastor and he said one of the first things that must take place in leadership training before placing someone in a leadership position is to beat the self ambition out of them. Of course he’s not talking about beating them literally but he’s saying we must get rid of all selfishness before we lead. Every leader will be tempted to operate in selfishness. We’re all going to be tempted to do what we think is best for us instead of what’s best for the team. We will be tempted to do things that glorify and honor us instead of God. We’re going to be tempted to promote/elevate ourselves, walk in pride and make a name for ourselves. satan will get you tired and impatient with doing things God’s way that you’ll want to start doing things your own way. The Bible talks about the temptations of the world: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:15–17). Pastor Rick Warren calls the temptations passions, possessions and positions. We will all be tempted to indulge in sins that pleases our body. We will be tempted to covet after others and we will desire to gain more material things. We will be tempted to want power, titles, recognition and fame. These are the temptations that we will all face. We are tempted daily to manipulate or tear down others so we can advance and move forward in life. It’s a battle of selfishness. We need to always check our motives to see WHY we are doing what we’re doing. Many of us are doing the RIGHT things but we are doing it for the WRONG reasons. We need to check our motives. God isn’t as concerned about our actions as He is with those intentions behind it. God is concerned about WHY we do what we do. Why do you give to poor? So you can be seen, get a tax write off, feel good about yourself and brag on social media? God can care less about the good works you do He’s concerned about your motives. Your motive is your motivation behind what you do. God is looking at the motivation. He looks at what prompted you to do what you did. Man looks at the outside but God looks at the heart. The heart is what matters. People pay attention to what you do but God is looking at your heart! Proverbs 16:2 says “people may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their motives.” You may think what you’re doing is good but if your motives aren’t right the deed is dead. Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that the heart is deceitful. You can’t trust your heart. We can be fooled by our motives. We can pretend and act like we’re serving God and trying to help others but God knows if selfishness lies beneath the surface. God can discern the thoughts and intentions of our heart.
Our selfishness hinders the hand of God. God is not blessing us and what we do when we’re operating in selfishness. Selfishness stops your prayers from being answered. James 4:3 says “when you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” God can’t bless wrong motives. Your heart has to be right. Even Jesus tells us to “be careful to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” God is looking at your MOTIVES. Your motives are serious to Him. If you are doing the right things for the right reasons that’s SERVICE. If you’re doing the right things for the wrong reasons that’s SELFISHNESS.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of the others.” Philippians 2:3–4
We shouldn’t do anything out of selfishness, strife or pride. Those things shouldn’t be our motives. Instead we should be walking in humility and looking to other’s interests. I remember one time I was talking to this girl I liked. She was a dancer and was the captain of the girls school dance team. We happened to get on the topic of leadership and I asked her what was one lesson she learned from leading her team. She told me that you must put the needs of the team before your own. Selfishness and leadership don’t go together. Leaders are called to be SERVANTS. We serve others, we don’t have others serve us. Leaders are selfless individuals. We are here to help serve others. Put their needs before your selfish desires.
What should our motives be? If our motives for wanting to please/promote ourselves is wrong- what should our motives be then? Our motives should be to please God. 1 Thessalonians 2:4 says “our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” Making God happy should be the motives behind why we do things. Not so we gain things and move ahead but so we can make God pleased with how we lived. Our reward comes from Him therfore we need to seek to please Him. God is looking for a pure heart, a good conscience and a faith unfeigned (1 Timothy 1:5). God wants you to do things out of sincerity. Not because you have some underlying intentions. Be sincere and let what you do be HEARTFELT. How do we examine the motives of our heart?
How To Check The Motives of Your Heart…
- Ask God to search you (Psalm 139:23)
- Ask yourself the hard questions
- Am I doing things to be recognized, seen or to be loved by others?
- If no one expressed appreciation or rewarded me for the things I do would I continue to do it?
- Would I do whatever God ask of me even if it seems minor, low or insignificant?
- If criticism and attacks are launched against me for what I’m doing will I quit?
- Do I manipulate others to get my way?
- Am I always “me” or “I” centered? Am I only in it when there’s something for me?
3. Ask God to align you with His plan
We must ask God to search us. When He searches us He will reveal the motives our heart. He exposes the condition of our heart so He can help you correct it. We must also ask ourselves some of the hard questions to check our motives. God isn’t concerned about what you do as much as WHY you do it. As leaders we must check our motives and teach our team to check their motives. Wrong motives are never in alignment with God’s plan. After you ask God to search you and ask those hard questions — ask Him to align you with His purpose and will for your life. He will do it for you when you check your MOTIVES!
