When doing charitable deeds or acts of service for our Heavenly Father, our motives are very important as the Lord considers them. Proverbs 21 vs 2: Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts. When our motives are pure, we bless and encourage others, but when our motives are self-based, we can hurt and discourage those around us. Sometimes we may not even be fully aware of our own motives until God reveals them to us.
A couple of months ago we (my husband and I) volunteered to help at a Christian NPO (non-profit organisation) for a weekend. It felt great to be doing something for the Lord again after so many months of inaction. A couple of days before, we received the schedule of tasks and I was rather disappointed with the role that I had been assigned. The more I thought about it, the unhappier I became. I even developed a negative attitude towards the role and the team I would be working with as they’d all been assigned more “noteworthy” roles.
I could not understand why I felt the way I did as I knew that one should serve with gladness no matter the task. Psalm 100 vs 2: Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. I knew my feelings were irrational, but I could not change them as much as I tried… The following morning, I came before the Lord in prayer and asked Him why I felt the way I did. And to my surprise, He gently asked a question of His own – “are you really doing this for Me… or are you doing it for yourself? In that moment I felt a deep sense of conviction as the truth came to the forefront of my mind…
I repented of my attitude and selfish motives as they would hinder the team, and the work we’d be doing that weekend.
Charitable deeds and acts of service for our Heavenly Father should be done with love, 1 Corinthians 16 vs 14: Let all that you do be done with love. To ensure that our motives are pure, some questions to ask ourselves when doing charitable deeds are:
- Why am I really doing this?
- Is it for recognition – to be seen and noticed by others? (Matthew 6 vs 1: Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in heaven)
- Is it for acceptance – to feel like I’m a part of something?
- Is it a need to be needed?
- Am I hoping to be promoted for my deed?
- Am I looking to boost my own confidence and feel good about myself?
When our motives are self-based, we can adopt the wrong attitudes thereby hindering our fellow brethren in ministry and even those we are trying to help. As we may be expecting certain outcomes like praise for our deeds or simply to feel good about ourselves, we may be disappointed when we do not receive or feel these things. Our own self-based motives may even turn us from the Lord when we do not get what we expect out of ministry.
May we remember Jeremiah 17 vs 10 (I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings) when doing things for our Heavenly Father. May we always do out of love and a genuine desire to serve.