Honest Motives Before GodНамуна

Pure Motives

We are saved by the grace of God through Christ’s death on the cross. Yet, sometimes when we try to live our Christian lives, we find ulterior motives even behind the good things that we do. For example, we give because we want to receive a return. We pray because we want to get an answer to our prayer. We read the Word because we want to gain a better standing before God and to obtain His favor towards us. How can we make sure that our motives behind doing godly things are honest and pure?

First, we can ask God to help us. We can pray for God to purify our hearts. King David prayed such prayer in several psalms that he had written. In one psalm, he asked God to create a clean heart in him. In another psalm, David asked for God to search his heart and to see if there was any wicked way in him. Just like David, we can ask God to help us with our heart’s motives. We also need to know that this is a common struggle among all Christians. None of us is exempt from having to constantly examine the motives of our hearts, even when we are genuinely saved. This is an ongoing battle.

The apostle Paul told us as much in the Scriptures. He said that the temptations we are facing are common to mankind. Yet, God provides a way for us to escape these temptations and overcome it through His faithfulness. In other words, when we pray to God and ask Him to create a clean heart in us, He will first show us what is unclean in our hearts. When that happens, we need to repent of this sin. Secondly, we need to receive the Lord’s forgiveness for the impurity that was found in us. 

Then, we need to cry out to God to give us His motives. We need to ask him to purify our thoughts so that we can pursue righteousness. In this way, the Holy Spirit will empower us to desire and do God’s will. The Scripture promises us that God works in us to will and to act according to His purpose. In other words, the Lord gives us pure motives so that we can act righteously before Him. We cannot do this on our own. The Lord purifies our hearts.