“Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, ‘Why are you thinking these things?’”
-Mark 2:8
Jesus knows what you are thinking in your heart—and that inspires me to have better motivation for doing things. It is far too easy to allow ourselves to be deceived by our own actions into thinking that we are living the Way of Jesus while our motives are infecting all those actions with impurity. Motive can be redemption for poor results, and condemnation for good results. So I’m praying that the people of God would live by hearts that have been sanctified, and not simply disguised. My dream of that kind of people looks something like this:
- People laboring for God because they want to make Him happy, and not because they want to make other Christians happy.
- People praying because they want to know God, and not because they want to use Him.
- People trusting God with their money because they want more of Him in their life, and not because they want more money in their life.
- People seeking miracles so that God will be glorified, and not so that they will be satisfied.
- People who serve “the least of these” because they see opportunity, and not because they feel guilty.
- People who give things up because God is enough, and not because they want better replacements.
- People who love because He first loved us, and not because they’re trying to earn the love of others.
- People who are at peace because they know God’s in control, and not because they’ve created control for themselves and are camped in comfort.
- People who share the gospel because they want the world to know Jesus, and not because they want the world to know them.
- People who forgive because they want to free others with grace and mercy, and not because they want to imprison others with guilt and debt.
Would Jesus ask you, “why are you thinking these things?” even though you were there with Him, hearing all He was saying and seeing all He was doing? You have to let God mold your motive before you’ll be able to act with integrity and produce fruit that’s healthy and nourishing instead of rotten on the inside!
