by Pastor Douglas Brauner

Only Jesus’ Motives Were Pure

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.”
Proverbs 21:2 English Standard Version

Writing these devotions for over ten years has at times been a cathartic experience for me. It has given me a forum to express emotions and thoughts. I had an emotive response to this proverb from Solomon. It hit a note with me on something that I’ve thought about on different occasions.

Most humans have the capacity to make their way of living in the world the right way. It can be hard for us to believe that someone else could have a different opinion. So we act in keeping with our plans often saying, “God knows my heart.”

That’s true. Solomon affirms the reality that God knows our heart. The heart meant more than emotions or feelings to Solomon. For him the heart included the intellect and will. God not only knows the emotions of any decision we make, but he understands why we made that decision.

There is an interesting little word in this proverb, one word that makes a difference in how we understand it; the word “but”. “…but the LORD weighs the heart.” Or as the New English Translation states, “…but the LORD evaluates the motives.”

Many people who use the phrase, “God knows my heart” use that phrase to validate their actions, their plans as if somehow their plans were 100% made from pure motives. God knows that our motives are tainted with selfishness and sin.

Only Jesus had pure motives.

Our plans may seem right in our eyes, but we will always wrestle with our motives. It is Jesus who by purifying us makes clean our motives. Even our good works are only good because of Jesus.

Instead of resting on our motives, it’s time for us to rest in Jesus and thank him for purifying our hearts.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado