Volume 45: Driven by Motives

Day 97 Devotional

DRIVEN BY MOTIVES

In journalism school, you learn to ask two kinds of questions: one to uncover what happened, and another to discern why it happened. One feels inviting and the other feels interrogating.

People can investigate facts and trace patterns, but only God truly sees the motive behind every story. Not everything you see is everything that’s there.

Some people speak with passion but are powered by agenda. Some people give with generosity but are fueled by recognition. Some people stay connected not out of love, but out of leverage.

Motives are the hidden engine behind visible behavior. And if you don’t learn to discern them, you will mistake performance for purity and proximity for loyalty.

The Invisible Driver

God never just evaluates actions. He examines intentions.

“Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)

That means two people can do the exact same thing, and God can receive one and reject the other.

Why? Because of motives.

Heaven does not reward what is seen. Heaven responds to what is real.

Humanity Was Created to Be Motive-Driven

You are not just action-driven.
You are motive-driven.

Everything you do is pulled by something deeper:

Approval.
Fear.
Love.
Control.
Validation.
Obedience.

Even in the garden, humanity’s fall was not just about eating fruit. It was about motive.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened…” (Genesis 3:5)

The enemy didn’t change the command. He corrupted the motive.

And ever since then, humanity has wrestled with this tension:

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

When Motives Contaminate Relationships

Some relationships don’t break because of conflict.
They break because of concealed intentions.

Judas didn’t just betray Jesus with a kiss. He carried a motive long before that moment.

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests… What will ye give me?” (Matthew 26:14–15)

Before the betrayal ever became public, the motive had already been formed in private. Judas was not just acting out of greed; he was operating from a deeper expectation—that Jesus would finally overthrow Rome and step into kingship.

Scripture even reveals that there were those who “would come and take him by force, to make him a king” (John 6:15).

Judas wasn’t just betraying Jesus; he was trying to force a moment Jesus refused to fulfill.

Have you ever wanted a relationship with someone so much that you tried to force it? Even if it meant hurting someone else, gaslighting loved ones, encouraging a divorce, or manipulating perspectives to hide your motives and achieve the results you want?

That is how contamination works.

You can sit at the same table.
Walk in the same circle.
Even speak the same language.

But if the motive is off, the relationship is already compromised.

Motives in Friendship: Pure vs. Polluted

The Bible does not ignore motives in relationships.
It exposes them.

“A friend loveth at all times…” (Proverbs 17:17)
“The kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” (Proverbs 27:6)

Not every expression of affection is rooted in love.
Some are rooted in strategy.

Real friendship is not driven by convenience. It is anchored in covenant.

But polluted friendship?

It calculates.
It withholds.
It performs.
It positions.

It asks, What can I gain?
Instead of, How can I serve?

When Bad Motives Still Point to Christ

Here is where it gets uncomfortable.

Not every wrong motive cancels the right message.

“Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife… notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice.” (Philippians 1:15–18)

Read that again.

People were preaching Christ with envy, competition, and impure motives. And yet, Christ was still being proclaimed.

This is the tension:

God can use a corrupted vessel without endorsing the corruption.

So yes, some messages that reach you may have come through wrong motives.

But God is so sovereign, He will still let truth hit your life, even if it came through a contaminated channel.

Why Manipulation Hurts the Weak, Not the Preacher

This is where discernment matters.

Because manipulation in the name of God rarely destroys the one doing it first. It destroys the one receiving it without understanding.

“Through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…” (2 Peter 2:3)

That is Bible.

Some people don’t preach to free you. They preach to move you.

And if your discernment is weak, you become vulnerable.

Because manipulation rarely shows up as control. It disguises itself as connection—trauma bonding that pulls you in, and scheming that positions you.

It feels real… until you realize it was never about God.

It was about gain.

The Motive That God Honors

God is not asking for perfection in your actions.
He is after purity in your motives.

“Let all your things be done with charity.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)

Charity is not just love expressed. It is love intended.

Pure motives don’t seek applause.
They don’t manipulate outcomes.
They don’t disguise ambition as anointing.

They simply say:

God, I want You.
Not what You can give me.
Not what people can see in me.
Just You.

I want to love what You love and hate what You hate.

Lessons Only Pain Can Teach You

You cannot always control what people do.
But you must learn to discern why they do it.

And more importantly, you must examine your own heart.

Because the most dangerous motive is not the one you detect in others.

It is the one you justify within yourself.

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Everything flows from there.

Your relationships.
Your decisions.
Your loyalty.
Your faith.
Your love.

So today, don’t just ask: What am I doing?
Ask: Why am I doing it?

Because you are not just living by actions.
You are being driven by motives—whether you recognize it or not.