Proverbs 21:2(NLT)
People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.
Our anchor Scripture says that God examines the heart. It confirms that God sees and knows the intent of our hearts. Behind every move, God goes deeper to see the motive behind them. What God is looking for is a heart that is perfect toward Him. He can see things about us that no one else can see. The Lord sees the dark and hidden things, those inner thoughts and desires in our hearts and minds. He looks at the beauty and honesty in our hearts. In God’s eyes, it’s not looks that count, but our hearts. That means that He is more pleased with someone who has a heart toward Him. It is written, in Proverbs 16:2, “people may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives.” The truth is, there is no human being on earth that acts without a definite motive. When we set out to do things, no matter how noble or spiritual, the motivation behind them must be genuine and sincere.
The condition of our hearts is vastly dominant to God. It is essential to know that with God, actions are weighed(1 Samuel 2:3). God is more concerned about the motive behind our actions than the actions themselves. When the prophet Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king, God reminded Samuel that He does not look at the things people look at but the heart. King David admonished his son Solomon to know and serve God with a perfect heart and willing mind. For the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts(1 Chronicles 28:9). In 2 Chronicles 25:1-2, the Bible says, “Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem…And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.” Many seem to be doing the right things in their service to God but not with a perfect heart. Many want God to bless them with the wrong motive of competing with their neighbor or wanting to be better than them. Some go to church to get a miracle and not with a perfect heart to serve God. They move from one miracle center to another, one prophet to another, forgetting God is watching. Some pretend to be friends to gather information and lie about them to destroy people’s reputations. There are some who have convinced themselves that they can live according to what is right in their own eyes; these ones are on the path of misery, craftiness, and deceit that will eventually lead them to destruction. In Luke 16:15, Jesus said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
Beloved, desire to please God and not live to please yourself nor man because when you desire to please God, the motives of your heart are led by His hands. Let the intention behind every action always be uncontaminated, uncorrupted, and right because the reason behind what you do can affect your relationship with God and determines where you will end in life and in eternity. Do not be driven by consensus but by conviction. Ensure you have a correct, genuine, and sincere motive behind every action, for God sees beyond your actions; He sees your heart. With the right heart, you are humble before God. If you live according to what is right in your own eyes, repent, turn from your ways and seek God with all your heart. Today, make knowing God through His Son Jesus Christ your priority. Yield yourself to Him and let Him shape your character. Serve Him with all your might and let your heart be perfect towards Him, for the Lord examines the motives of your heart.
O LORD, I set my heart and mind on You, asking that You have Your Way in me. Today, help me love You with all my heart in Jesus’ Name.