Today’s Reading, Proverbs 16-18
Focal Scripture: Proverbs 16:2 “All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs motives. ,”
The book of Proverbs consistently drops some very hard hitting truths. Especially when it comes to people and their motives and actions. I think most people understand that relationships are difficult, especially with people you are not close with in your personal life. This really comes to light with people that you will work with or are even your superiors in your workplace. You will even experience this with friends and acquaintances in your daily life.
In today’s reading we see Solomon declare that a persons ways will seem right to him but the Lord weighs motives. This means that each individual person honestly believes that they are making wise and good decisions. However, the Lord looks at the motives behind those decisions. Solomon understands that a person can make a decision but have motives that are not genuine or pure no matter how it looks to the outside world. The Lord sees the heart.
I have only experienced this a few times in my life but each time it has been extremely frustrating. I once had a superior that believed every decision he made was always right. He would even discredit other people’s ideas and loves to make people look stupid when he was given the chance. This person was a masterful manipulator. They knew how to work a crowd and be very personable. They looked the part to the outside world. However, behind closed doors their motives were exposed. They were not nice because it was their personality, they were nice to win favor with influential and key people in the organization. Their motives were never pure but always with an agenda.
The challenge for us as believers is to make sure our decisions are not made off of personal bias or preference. Our motives should be to follow the Lord and his teachings. When this happens, we know that our lives will be a witness to the truth of Christ. We also know that people will not question the heart behind our decision making process.
The person I spoke about earlier is still in leadership. They are still spinning a web of lies and deceit to this same organization. To make it worse they have bought it hook, line, and sinker. His motives are not pure but strictly pragmatic. The motives are for an agenda of personal gain not a heart for people. To lead biblically means you must have pure motives. The world and its desires can’t be the focus.
So how do you lead? What are your motives behind your decisions? This will reveal what type of person you are and if your decisions are good and holy.
It is time to lead and be different. We can’t look and act like the world.
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Proverbs 19-21
