“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” – Proverbs 16:2

“Why did you do that?” This is a question I’m sure we’ve all heard before. Usually, it comes up when someone has done something stupid, or something cruel, or they have really messed up in some way. But this is a question we should be asking ourselves all the time. The truth is, behind every action we take throughout the day, there is motivation of some kind. Why is it important to ask this question? Because many actions seem perfectly normal, or even honorable, from the outside, but the motives are less than pure.

As Proverbs 16:2 tells us, God is very aware of, and very concerned with, our motives. So, as we continue in our pursuit to be more like Christ and closer to God, that pursuit must include knowing ourselves better. We must take time to truly consider the reasoning behind how we act and speak the way we do in our daily lives. And any of those motives that are not aligned with the heart of Christ must change, even if the actions themselves stay mostly the same. Just “looking good” in our actions is not enough. Someone who is in a passionate pursuit to be more like Jesus must look like him on the inside just as much as on the outside.