God's too smart for us. Yeah, yeah. Where did THAT brainstorm come from? Before you act so surprised, think about how we live. We juke left and then go right on Him but He doesn't bite on the fake. We try all sorts of spiritual misdirection but it never works. He's smarter than us.
Here is the real deal. We DO stuff. God looks at WHY we do stuff. Even if the outcome is identical for two different actions the one with the pure motive will be pleasing to God and the one without a pure motive will be worthless.
Prayer is a good example. The religious leaders in Jesus' day prayed a lot. Good thing, right? BUT their prayer was a show. It was an attempt to impress other people with their spiritual intensity. Prayer is good, but the motive behind the prayer can render it powerless.
I have to watch this all the time as I pastor my church. Why do I care for certain people or give some specfic attention? How do I act in certain situations and for what end? Are my actions a pure, guileless love or is there a personal agenda involved? When I speak is there any hint of, "I hope the people like my preaching." When I sing or play do I internally want the people to say, "Wow, our pastor is good!" When I encourage someone is it for their sole benefit or is there a desire for them to appreciate me or be impressed by my "wisdom"? Motives, when revealed make nice behaviors really ugly.
Have you ever done a really nice thing and inside wished someone else saw you do it so an impression would be made? Have you ever given of yourself sacrificially but soured afterward when no one thanked you? What was the motive? Motive makes the difference in everything we do.
This is never more clear than the motive behind the desire to be like God. Follow this train of thought. The Devil wanted to be like God and got kicked out of heaven. Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and got kicked out of the Garden of Eden. Then God throws us a nasty New Testament curveball and says, "My goal for you is to be like Me." WHAT???? Explain please!!
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 teach us in the midst of some prophetic revelations, that the reason Satan was cast away from God was because he wanted to be like God. His aspirations were for God's power, God's position and God's glory. When Satan tempted Eve in the garden he appealed to her by saying, "You'll be like God, knowing good and evil." In Romans 8:29, God says He has predestined us to be conformed the likeness of Jesus.....in other words, to be like God. 1 John 3:2 goes further when it says, "When we see Him we will be like Him for we will see Him as He is." God WANTS us to be like Him! Then why did Satan and original man and woman get disciplined?
Motive. That's the difference.
Why did Satan want to be like God? He wanted to be almighty. He wanted to call the shots. He wanted for his beauty and his name praised and glorified. Sorry, wrong answer.
Why did Eve buy the lie and take the fruit? She felt like there might be something true in Satan's words. Is God really taking advantage of me and keeping me down? I want to know what He knows. He's holding out on me. I don't think He is being straight with me. I want to take charge of my own destiny. Swing and a miss.
Notice the motives. I want. My pleasure. My glory. I deserve. My power. My freedom. I need. My goals. My desires. I am somebody!!!!
I, I, I, I, I.....my, my, my, my, my......this is called pride: a preoccupation with self.
In the New Testament it's all about losing the self not promoting self. "If you lose your life you'll save it." "Deny yourself." "I must decrease." "The least will be the greatest." "When I am weakest His strength is made perfect."
When it comes to my relationship with God, my focus must be on God: Serving God, honoring God, pleasing God, glorifying God, loving God. This is called humility: thinking of yourself less.
Why do you do what you do? Self gratification? Self advancement? Self service? Personal glory? You may get some of that but you'll never be like God. Self sacrifice? Self denial? Self control? God's glory? He will transform you into the likeness of His Son.
Satan, Adam and Eve, you and I, even God wants us to be like Him, but only with the right motive. Today, don't just DO stuff, think about WHY you are doing it. Motive makes all the differnce.
In His grip,
Greg
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4 comments:
i like it. "Why? before do..." I'll try it out.
Yes, 'motive', intention - the reason we do what we do. I so want to believe I do the 'good' things I do to glorify the One who saved me - but do I? There was one much greater than I who struggled also, and I pray as he did: "O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love.."
Oh my, what are my motives??? Thanks for the challenging thoughts. I don't focus on what's behind my actions much and so bringing attention to that area is greatly appreciated... and needed! I don't want to go around wasting my efforts with bad motives, but making my actions count...for HIS glory! I needed that challenge...thanks!
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