What's inside?

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If Jesus were to look into the motivation of your heart today, what would He find?


Scripture

Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
(1 Corinthians 4:5 NASB)

Observation

We think that we are quite skilled at keeping the motivations of our heart a secret. We do our best to keep them hidden from the light of day. While we keep our deepest thoughts and motivations hidden we strike out at what we judge as inconsistencies in others. Paul saw this very thing happening in the baby church which he had birthed in Corinth. He warned those within this congregation to stop passing judgment based on their limited understanding. He knew that a time would come when Jesus would pass judgment based on what was inside!

Application

We cannot see inside, to the heart and motivations of individuals, and often there is so much more to a situation than we can ever begin to understand. The mitigating circumstances of life with which others may be dealing may be far beyond our personal comprehension. And yet, why are we so quick to pass judgment? We must step back and realize that it is not our responsibility to judge the heart of an individual, but rather, that is what Christ will do. Christ can, and will, look on the heart of an individual and know their motivations.
It's Jesus who will discover what's inside, and in this revelation there is sadness and joy. There is sadness if Jesus discovers that the motivations have not been pure and there will be punishment for those who do not serve Him with a pure heart. However, for those who may feel that they have been misunderstood by the world (and Paul certainly felt misunderstood), they will receive their praise from Christ, Himself.
I want my life to be a praise to Christ! What about you?

Prayer

Lord, please look on my heart and cleanse and purify it and my motives to Your glory! Amen.

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