Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs and examines the hearts [of people and their motives].

— Proverbs 21:2 (AMP)

I like to define a motive as “the why behind the what.” A motive is the reason we do what we do. It is easy to say what we are doing with our time, but sometimes we do not understand why we do what we do. We might be doing something just to be well thought of, when truly we don’t have the time to do it.

Impure motives can cause many problems, one of which is being overcommitted, which results in unnecessary stress in our lives. Surely, we won’t live with extreme stress if we are obeying God and doing only what He wants us to do.

Never agree to do something in order to impress people or because you fear what they may think or say about you if you don’t. When an opportunity comes up, take the motive test—ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? Is this something I’m doing for God or something I’m doing to please people?”

Prayer of the Day: Dear God, please help me to always examine my motives and ensure that everything I do is for your glory and not for the approval of others. Help me to say no to things that are not in line with your will and to live a life free from unnecessary stress, amen.

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