Acting with the Right Heart Motivation
By Laura Bailey
“Then he added, 'Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: 'I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.' For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” - Matthew 9:13, NLT
After years of rebellion and twisting the Scriptures to bend to my benefit, I finally surrendered to Christ. But then I overcorrected and became pretty legalistic. I strived to obey God’s Word, practiced the spiritual disciplines, and committed to daily confession and prayer. These changes are not wrong and necessary for a believer's life; however, when done with the wrong heart motivation, Scripture says they are like offering God filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Yikes.
I became more concerned with doing all the right things, becoming highly critical of those I felt weren’t doing enough, and eventually became exhausted and bitter. The problem with this thinking is that it makes us overly critical of others, hyper-focused on ourselves, and wears us out. Have you ever gotten so focused on what you can do for the Lord that you forgot what He desires from His children?
In Matthew 13:9, Jesus, in speaking to the Pharisees, says, “ I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.” We also see these exact words spoken in Hosea 6:6, when God speaks to the Israelites. These verses do not say that the Lord doesn’t desire our sacrifices or that obeying His commandments or striving for holiness isn’t important. But He tells us that all this is done in vain if we are motivated more by perceived religious righteousness and not a heart of love and gratitude for our Heavenly Father.
We can not earn our salvation, nor can we earn favor with God. We must resist the urge to let our works indicate our right standing before God. We are justified not by what we have done, our sacrifice, but by God’s mercy and Christ’s sacrifice.
The Pharisees believed they were already righteous enough; they didn’t need saving. They couldn’t understand why Jesus, the Holy of Holies, would surround himself with sinners. But, as we see in Jesus’ response, as believers, our job is to help those in sin to come to Christ, showing them the same mercy that was shown to us. Jesus came to save those who readily acknowledged their sins and knew they needed a savior.
Too often, as seasoned believers, we forget the gospel message is not just for our conversion. Even after we’ve been eternally saved from our sins, we continue to sin; we need saving every day until we go to be with Jesus for all eternity. Let us guard our hearts against believing the lie that we are no longer sinners who require saving. May we hold tightly to the grace and mercy God bestows not once but continually.
As we seek to glorify God with all our heart, soul, and mind, along with our actions, remember that, above all else, the Lord wants a personal relationship with you. Let us act with a rightfully motivated heart to serve the Lord humbly, and offer gratitude, forgiveness, and love to those in need of salvation.
Intersecting Faith and Life:
Are you in a season of going through the spiritual motions? Do you continue to get up and read the Bible, check the prayer box, and do all the “right Christian things,” but know that you're doing them with the wrong heart motivation? Ask the Lord to soften your heart, to give you the desire to obey and live righteously out of gratitude, not simply an obligation.
Further Reading:
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