What motivates you will eventually determine what you do. When our motives are inaccurate, we eventually stop doing what is right as whatever motivates will determine our source of frustration and possible confusion. Many serve God purely for what they can get from Him. Usually what they want from Him has a lot to do with their material needs. Little wonder their service towards Him diminishes when they have material provision in some degree of abundance. If the church in Jerusalem thought their comfort was the highest priority, how would they have handled their persecution and having to be scattered? Would they really go everywhere preaching the Word? When your motive in relationship is to use not build people up, you tend to abuse the relationship. It is the motive that was wrong in the first place. Motives do not usually become obvious until things go wrong and the real motives are exposed. When the Bible says "the heart of a man is desperately wicked. Who can know it?" One of the unknown things about each heart is the inner motives. You cannot tell your heart motives until conflicts expose them. Whenever you have a conflict, ask yourself this question, "why am I feeling like this and why am I thinking these thoughts?" If you sincerely answer these questions, you will begin to know your true motives. If you let the truth of God"s Word confront the true state of your heart, you are ready for the truth to set you free. Many can boast of their goodness but a faithful man who can find? Wrong motives affect the effectiveness of right deeds. Many loose their rewards simply because their motives were not pure. Ask yourself, "why do I give or pray publicly?" The issue of motive was what Jesus was addressing in Matthew 6 when He talked about giving, praying and fasting. Our motives can also be revealed through the words of our mouth and our giving. Our motives reveal the content of our hearts. We are instructed to guard our hearts with all diligence in Proverbs 4. Do not stop doing a good thing if your reason for doing it is wrong. Rather change your reason for doing it. Heart checks should form a major part of taking your spiritual inventory from time to time in life"s journey. This is because the single most important element in a person"s future is the content of the heart. What you continually focus your attention on will enter your heart. As the content of your heart changes, your motives will change. Change the focus of your attention and your motivation will change.

WISDOM KEY: Do not stop doing a good thing if your reason for doing it is wrong. Rather change your reason for doing it.

SCRIPTURE READING: "Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life." Prov. 4:23

LIFE APPLICATION: How can we firtly discern wrong motives in our hearts? And secondly, how can we change them?