Check Your Motives

But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your hearts, don't brag about being wise. That is the worst kind of lie. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and motivated by the Devil. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and every kind of evil.
James 3:14-16

As Believers in Christ it is imperative that we lead Godly lives and that the motives and intentions of our hearts be pure. I remember when the Lord first started to teach me about checking my motives. I was born again but for years I still continued to struggle with depression. I prayed to God for a solution and one day I heard him say “Your heart isn’t right”. I’m thinking my heart isn’t right? Wait a minute, I’m hurting here that can’t be God speaking to me. So I continued to pray and still heard the Lord say to me “Your heart isn’t right”.

It was at that moment that God revealed to me that the root of my depression was that I was simply self centered. The more I focused on me, my problems, my faults, what I didn’t have, how someone had hurt me the worst my depression got. Luke 6:45 says “A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart”. My life was simply a reflection of where my heart was.

I am convinced that the only reason I started to walk in victory over depression is because I chose to take my focus off of me and place it onto God. Philippians 4:8-9 says “Fix your thoughts on what is true, honorable and right. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise”. Our greatest motivation should be to know Christ and to make him known. We should never do things for selfish gain or for the approval and praise of man. We mustn’t live our lives before an audience seeking their approval and praise. But only for the praise and admiration of one - Christ Jesus.

Once I decided to check my motives and got my heart right depression was a thing of the past. I urge you to make the same decision today. Intentionally place your affections and thoughts towards God. When you do this it will be nearly impossible for your motives to be impure.

-Rita