Who Checks Your Motives?

Have you ever sat back & watched someone & wondered, "Why in the world are they doing that?"

Do you think that someone has ever looked at your life & asked themselves, "What is he/she thinking?"

We've all done it. We've all seen someone do something or say something, & we think to ourselves, "What?" However, I bet if we actually asked that person what was going through their head & what their motivation was, they would give us a reason that makes complete sense...to them.

Proverbs 16:2 says this:

"All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord."

Have you ever noticed that we always seem to have a really compelling argument for why we do what we do? If you're like me, you can talk yourself into just about anything. In fact, some of the things that we now look back on with regret, we at one time thought was a really good idea. You've probably wondered to yourself, "Why did I do that? How did I think that was a good idea?" Well, this explains it.

We always think we're in the right, even when we're dead wrong. The only person who can really weigh our motives honestly is God. With that in mind Solomon goes on to tell us,

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, & your plans will succeed."

Since we can always talk ourselves into thinking we're right, we need to have some other filter that we can use to gain some insight on ourselves. That filter is God's will revealed through His Word. Proverbs is loaded with the concept that wisdom comes through listening to outside instruction, & there is no better outside instruction than God's Word. God's Word has this really uncomfortable way of pointing out where our lives are out of alignment with His plan for His people, & when we're confronted with that we get to choose whether we want to be a fool or a person of wisdom. If you want to wear the label of fool, then ignore God's Word & do what you wanted anyway, but if you don't really want to be known as a fool, then redirect your life to get into alignment with the path God has laid out in His Word. Then your plans will succeed because your plan is built first & foremost on honoring your Heavenly Father & staying faithful to the path He has for His people.