Why Do You Do It?
What drives you as a person to do the things you do? Do you do things to serve yourself, serve others, or maybe serve God? From my own perspective over the last few years, it seems we as a country have become much more of a self-serve rather than service. While there are moments in history when it seems not all is lost with humanity. Recently during the tragic flooding from Hurricane Florence, we have seen thousands of people coming to the aid of those affected by the storm.
Aside from tragedy, what motivates you, what drives you to do the things you do? Matthew 6:1-4“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” In my own life, I can’t say my motives have always been clear. There have been times when I have done something for the accolades. We must remember though, it’s important to keep our hearts clean, our motives pure. We can do things, all kinds of things that on the surface look great. We can volunteer at church or other places like homeless shelters and such, but we must be careful to ask ourselves why we are doing it. We can do all kinds of things for the appearances of it. We can put on a mask, and go to church, smile and shake hands, but what really counts is what’s in your heart. So many people go do church because they are expected too. So many people (men in particular) go to church and put on a good show, and try to go out for deacon or whatever position they want, but why? People’s motives are always an interesting subject when you truly start to break down the why.
When I was growing up, I knew I wanted to make a difference in this life. For a long time, I wanted to leave a legacy behind. I don’t think my motives weren’t in the right place as that legacy was to be reminded for something good. As I’ve grown in my faith, now I see that the focus should be living life in a way that people see Christ in you. When we do things for our own gain, even if we can fool everyone around us, we cannot fool God. Proverbs 21:2“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.” I think it’s important for us to challenge ourselves to ask why we do the things we do. Are we being drawn to temptation? Are we seeking notoriety? Are we truly doing our works to please God? Are we doing works to try and work our way into Heaven? Whatever the reason is, there’s only one that’s acceptable, and that’s to please God and bring glory to His Holy name.
I have seen a lot of people make decisions based on their own selfish desires. I have watched as lives have been torn apart from a selfish motivation that was acted upon. I think it’s time that we put the past to bed, and look at our hearts today. Whatever drove you yesterday, that doesn’t have to define you today. Stand up for Jesus today. Look into your heart and ask yourself if you can give yourself to Christ. It’s time to start changing hearts, and changing behaviors. God created you for a purpose and when we live in the purpose we will find that peace is no longer an unobtainable idea. Jesus Christ is the reason we have hope, and because of that we shouldn’t be afraid to trust, to give ourselves to that hope. We can find happiness in changing our motives, and we can trust that when we stop living for ourselves, we will be blessed for it. Sure, there will still be trials, but when you have your faith in Christ, those troubles instead of being a category 5 hurricane, will only be a small thunderstorm. Live for Christ, because Christ knows you, He knows your name, and what more can we ever ask for? We are famous in our fathers eyes, so nothing people can give you is worth more then the gift given to us by the blood of Christ. In all things work to bring glory to the name of Jesus.
The Arrow Preacher 