Your motives (2)

Sometimes our real motives can hide themselves well. Like when we're praying for someone and suddenly realise that our prayer's gone full-blast sermon. Or when we offer to help on the church roster just when it overlaps with someone who has something beneficial for us. 'The human mind is the most deceitful of all things,' says Jeremiah 17:9 GWT. Jeremiah was probably on to something.

Motives like wanting to be needed or respected can compete with the motive of love for Jesus. But when we decide in our hearts that love for Jesus is our main drive in life, then we're getting rid of any competing motive. In our relationships, in our life plans, in the choice of what we spend that spare $20 in our pocket on, we make space for a simpler way to live.

When joy in God is a first-thing-in-the-day matter, it filters naturally into all that we do. Proverbs 17:22 GWT

says, 'A cheerful heart does good like medicine.' This doesn't mean our motives will always be 100% genuine or that life's situations will get simpler. But it does mean that we're happier and more able to trust ourselves in everyday decisions.



So what now? Look back at your free-writing from yesterday. Reflect on it, then answer this question: What did you learn about yourself and your motives? (Top tip: free-writing then reflecting on your writing after a day's break is a great way to journal.)





— SCRIPTURE —

'A cheerful heart does good like medicine.' Proverbs 27:11 NKJV
— SOULFOOD —

1 Cor 1-3, Mark 14:53-65, Ps 34:1-10, Pro 24:28-29