Honest Motives Before GodSample

Renewed Motives

To allow Christ to live through us, we need to spend time with Him and His Word. The more we focus our minds on Jesus, the more our motives are renewed. They become pleasing to God. We start thinking God’s thoughts as we set our gaze on Him, center our hearts on Him, and spend time with Him. 

A popular maxim states, “Show me your friends, and I will show you your future.” Did you know that this was a biblical principle? Yes! The Bible says that someone who is friendly with wise people will be wise. Yet, someone whose companions are fools will become foolish. The same is true about our motives as we live a Christian life. If we read the Bible, pray daily, and go to church regularly, we infuse our minds with righteous biblical thoughts. These thoughts change us from the inside out. Our thoughts change our motives, and the latter move us to righteous actions. 

The Scripture calls this process “being transformed by the renewing of your mind.” When God’s Word permeates our mind, we stop conforming to the ways and patterns of this world. Our desires, ambitions, and motives are renewed. Christ becomes our main ambition. The Bible says that we can hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness. It happens when we fellowship with Jesus. The more time we spend with Him, the more we become like Him. Then, we can obey Christ’s commandment of seeking God’s Kingdom first. It becomes easy for us. It becomes part of our nature. That is how a born-again Christian becomes an entirely different person. This is what it means to be a new creation. 

The transformation of our hearts and minds into Christ is a beautiful thing that the Spirit of God does in every believer. All we need to do is to be willing for Him to renew us. The Scripture describes this process as the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Spirit. This renewal manifests in our lives. Other people see it. It becomes obvious to us and those around us that our motives are truly renewed.