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Pure Ways?

             All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. (Proverbs 16:2)

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)

Generally, we think that this means all a person’s ways seem purely right or good to them. I suspect that it’s often true. But a person’s ways can also seem purely worthless, evil, hopeless, etc. The point is that our estimation of what we have done and who we are is often so like the story of the size of the fish that got away. We can’t imagine that our perceptions are skewed. This thing we care about is important! And it is, but part of what is important to us is being seen as what we think is good.

God sees what we do, and He not only knows what we’re doing but why we do it. If we do things to look good to others or for their praise, and we get that praise, we have received the payment we sought. We shouldn’t expect God's applause. Unfortunately, we often don’t recognize our own motivations.  That’s why we need to pray about things and pay attention to our thoughts. That makes journaling useful. Having a friend who isn’t afraid to call us on our attitudes and motivations is also helpful.

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