ON MOTIVES

A few days ago, as I was listening to one of my favorite Bible teachers preach a sermon, I started thinking of the motives behind my actions. She was talking about the importance of doing good things for the right reasons. I sincerely agreed with what she said. It would be great if we all did whatever it is we are doing with the full conviction that we are doing it for the right reasons. But, I have noted that sometimes thinking too much about the “whys” –why did I do that, why will I do that, why would I want to do that, why should I do that…-makes me not want to do absolutely anything because I feel afraid that my motives could be wrong. It has the opposite effect. In trying to discern my reasons, and the reasons behind my reasons –which, lately, I have come to believe will never be totally well-defined to me for a good reason- I grow so weary, bewildered, that I even begin doubting any of my deeds can have any positive influence at all.

I will not question my motives anymore. God, not I, is in charge of judging me, myself, my reasons, and my actions. The fact that sometimes I may not be fully aware of the nature of my reasons will not prevent God from doing the good that he wants to do through me. I pray that my motives are genuinely right, but judging myself again and again for doing this or that, or neither, is not my business. There is nothing more wonderful than to enter the rest of God and to have the confidence that He will indeed judge us rightfully. So we can do what we believe to be right. In this respect, I honestly think that, if the reasons behind our so-called good actions are wrong, cloudy, still unclear, God will make sure that we keep learning and growing until our motivations fall into the realm of the right. As the Bible says, “Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.”