The Freedom That Comes From Examining Our Motives

One of the more helpful practices for maturity is to examine our motives on a regular basis. This helps us to find attitudes and beliefs and weaknesses that are blocking our Christformation. It helps us to break free of the chains that are holding us back.

If you are wondering why your daily life or ministry doesn’t seem to be primarily focused on God then it is possible that you are doing what you do for the wrong motives. It is easy to do the right thing for the wrong reason. It is also possible that you have created a false self out of destructive motives, hoping to gain approval. Some people lead worship or lead a congregation for years before realizing that their ministry was more about gratifying themselves and gaining approval than about honoring God.

So we need to occasionally ask ourselves penetrating questions. “Is my motivation for doing ministry to find my value in my performance? Is it self-promotion? Is it approval of others? What are my motivations for all that I do in every dimension of my life: my occupation, being a spouse, parenting, spiritual disciplines, etcetera?

Exercise. Examination of motives. 

1. Make a list of all your major responsibilities and activities. 
2. Examine each one to determine the various motives behind them.
3. Determine how much each of your motives influences what you do.
   1. Take some time in solitude to deeply examine your heart and ask God to help you.
   2. Consider the following motives:
      1. Find value
      2. Promote self
      3. Approval of others
      4. Get back at others
      5. Bless others
      6. Love for God
      7. Desire to do God’s will
      8. Faith in God
      9. Desire for Chrisformation
   3. Assign a numerical value to the influence of your motives in various areas of your life so you can see how much they influence you in those areas.
4. Talk to God and confess disordered motives. 
5. Determine the proper mix of motives and choose to adopt that mix. Find Scripture and adopt new thinking. Be intentional about focusing on specific motives.

Do not beat yourself up when you find destructive motives. Rather, accept God’s forgiveness and mercy. Then be merciful to yourself. Be thankful that God helped you to find something that was getting in the way of your Christformation and union with him. Gladly walk the path of change, keeping the eyes of your heart on Christ.