Motivated

Matthew Chapter Six has some examples of actions.  The actions, themselves, are not bad, but Jesus is concerned about the motivation behind the actions: giving to poor people, praying, fasting.  All of those are good spiritual practices.  God is not just concerned with the actions, though; God cares about the heart of a person.

The reason is that when you get past the action of giving to the poor, there might be some selfishness behind it.

Giving money to the Salvation Army at Christmas is a nice thing to do.  They help a lot of people, and they share the hope of Jesus when they also share necessities.  The question is, "Why are you giving to the Salvation Army?"  There are some good reasons:

• Help the poor people
• Show your family you are generous
• Be a witness to others
• Get a tax write off

Those might be good reasons, but they are not what God would be hoping for.  The action is good, the reason might be good, but the heart is rather selfish.  In reverse order:

• "I" want to pay less taxes
• "I" want to impress other people
• "I" want to impress my family
• "I" want to impress myself

There are probably different levels of being selfish.  The first level would consist of not giving money and wanting to keep it.  Another level would be giving the money for selfish reasons.  It's unfortunate, but often people are encouraged to give to charities for selfish reasons, even if they are well disguised.

God has blessed all of us with more things than we deserve.  It's easy to get caught up in comparing ourselves to someone who has more, but God has given all this out of his love for us.  When that love sinks deep into us so that it covers every nook and cranny in our souls, there is nothing that would be able to stop us from responding in love.  That's giving with a cheerful heart.

This doesn't just apply to the the action listed in Matthew chapter six, but it could apply to any action. That is something to think about.  I would challenge you to think of even the most obscure things that you do.  Then think about your motivation.

I don't think that Jesus is trying to make people feel guilty or bad or anything like that in these chapters.  He's encouraging us.  He's saying, "Bask in my love!  If you're not feeling my love, then maybe you don't understand just how deep my love for you is.  Let it fill you."

Image from ABC New