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Good Intentions, Poor Motivations

Like we learned yesterday, Jeroboam deviated from being obedient to the Lord. Instead of heeding the words of God, Jeroboam, out of fear, came up with his own plan. Not only did he deviate from God’s instructions, he led his people astray as well.

This is a repeated pattern of the ancient kings, these men of influence who had such an opportunity to do so much good. Somewhere deep inside of them, their motivations shifted away from God, and they led people astray.

This makes me take a step back and feel very challenged in the deeper motivations I have. No matter who we are and what our callings are, we influence other people.

Friends influence friends. Moms influence kids. Bosses influence employees. Our words influence those following us on social media. Big and small, we cause some sort of chain reaction with the influence we have.

In light of this, I’m going to ask some challenging questions.

• Do we really want God’s best for our job but then cut corners or try to get ahead in ways that damage our integrity and Christian witness?
• Do we really want God’s best for our kids, or do we have our own plan for what a successful child is that distracts us from keeping God front and center in our family?
• Do we say we want God’s best for our marriage but then when God calls us to humbly apologize for saying something rude or harsh, we prefer to justify our actions and seek to prove ourselves right?
• Do we say we use social media to encourage and help others but become so addicted to the affirmations people give us that we start posting more for personal affirmation?
• Do we say we want to lead a Bible study to help others learn about God but get completely offended when a friend goes to someone else’s study rather than ours?

It’s easy to start out with great intentions but over time have our real motivation get tainted.

Is there an activity or belief you hold that began with the right intentions but the motivation has become something else?