First Baptist Church of Herndon

Recognizing Your Motives

Linda Soller | Dec 07, 2020

Someone tries to do something nice, and the people around them question their motives. A doctor gives out their sincere advice, but it’s not what the patient wants to hear, so the patient accuses the doctor of having ulterior motives. The plumber visits your house for the third time in as many months, suggesting you really do need a new faucet, but you are convinced he just wants to sell you something. It’s so easy to question someone else’s motives. Maybe it’s time we recognized our own. 

Do you act one way in front of people you want to impress and another way when no one is watching? Do you act compassionately one minute and selfishly the next?  Do you find yourself making excuses for your actions, lack of action, opinions, or words? The excuses seldom fix the problem. Do they help you feel better about yourself?  When was the last time you were truthful with someone knowing full-well they would be unhappy with you? When was the last time you offered to agree to disagree instead of remaining silent?

Religious leaders would regularly challenge Jesus, trying to prove they were smarter, or more important, or more powerful. Clearly, they wanted to protect their place in society. Wonder what would have happened if instead they had tried to understand, asked from a place of learning, focused on how their beliefs were similar, not different?

A young boy saw a need in his community. That need had no one skin color, did not attend one church, didn’t speak a complicated language, but that need had a name. Its name was hunger. He started a mini food bank. It wasn’t much by some standards; it was huge by others! His motives were simple. Provide food for people who need it. He didn’t judge as to why they were hungry, where they lived, if they had a job, or how they looked. He saw a need and tried to fill it the best he could. When asked why he did it he replied, to help others. When was the last time you stopped to recognize your motives?

PEACEcomes from compassion offered for the best of reasons. :o) Linda