The Importance of Motives

March 27, 2023

And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure. James 4:3 NLT

And there it is. The big problem is wrong motives, and when our motives are wrong, they are never so because we are unselfish, thinking of others, wanting to make life great for someone else. You never find yourself saying, “I’m sorry I screwed that up so much. I was thinking of what she needed.” No one ever tells you, “I simply can’t be in this relationship unless you stop being so kind, loving, and unselfish.” No, the things that make a mess of your life and relationships are about YOU thinking about YOU. You and I have ulterior motives because we try to maneuver people and situations into the place WE want them to be.

There’s only one motivation that will keep us focused and provide the fuel for the life we want and need: love. Anything else will eventually fail. Jesus told us that many times over, and even made loving others as He loved us the one law of His new covenant. Love like Jesus will straighten out all our crooked motives.

It’s simple and easy to appear to be loving. But our external actions are often not reliable indicators of what’s going on inside. In the famous love chapter, Paul says you can even surrender your body to be burned without love. Sometimes we DO good things that look loving because we want to feel good about ourselves or look like a “good Christian”—not a healthy motive, and it won’t keep us going.

When authentic love is not our motive, a slew of difficulties follow. Trust me. I have experienced every one of them. Operating without love is exhausting. I become a legalist with myself, trying to be better and better and get the approval and notice of others. I never do enough. Or sometimes I don’t try to be perfect. I find myself comparing, measuring myself by others. I’m not trying to focus on serving from the heart. I just want to do a little better than everyone else. I just want to do good enough to flow with the crowd and feel good about myself. I end up quitting. I may take off in a sprint serving, but the inspiration dies out and I just quit. I develop a sense of pride and superiority. I end up resenting the people I serve and the people I think are not doing enough. I pat myself on the back and criticize them. Why don’t they even appreciate what I am doing? I find myself blaming others and excusing myself. When things don’t work out as I think they should, I am quick to place blame on others and excuse myself. After all, I’m a really great person. If only they were different.

Results always have reasons—and here the reason is my poor motive. Anything not motivated by love will fail.

• Did you see yourself anywhere here? I saw me. Let’s ask God for His true love to fill us.