7 The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 SAMUEL 16 nlt
3 The Lord tests the heart. PROVERBS 17
2 …Motives are weighed by the Lord. PROVERBS 16
What matters to God is not what we do but why we do it. It’s not what we say but why we say it. It’s not the act He’s after, but our intention or motive for the act (Proverbs 21:2).
27 The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of man; it searches out his inmost being. PROVERBS 20
And what motive is pleasing to God?
14 Most of all, let love guide your life. COLOSSIANS 3 tlb
14 Do everything in love. 1 CORINTHIANS 16
Love distinguishes righteousness from goodness. What’s the difference between the two? Righteousness is a good thought, word or deed propelled by love. Goodness is a good thought, word or deed unpropelled by love.
Throughout the Scripture, God calls for righteousness. It is what makes a child of God, what sets him apart from the rest of humanity.
34 Awake to righteousness. 1 CORINTHIANS 15 nkjv
12 Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. HOSEA 10 nlt
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. MATTHEW 5
Lucifer is capable of doing goodness but not righteousness. When he does a good deed, his motive cannot be love. For there is neither love of God nor love of man in him. He lost it even before the creation of man. The motive behind his good deeds is selfishness. Our good deeds if not propelled by love may be no different to the good deeds of Lucifer.
10 In this the children of God are manifest and the children of the devil: Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither is he that loveth not his brother. 1 JOHN 3 kjv
It has been made known what fate awaits those who do good deeds but not for love.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” 23 Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!” MATTHEW 7
The papal bull Cantate Domino claims that only Roman Catholics would enter the kingdom of God. The Iglesia ni Kristo claims that only its church members would enter the kingdom. Scripture says God is after the righteous. Corporate affiliation will not carry anyone to the kingdom; only righteousness will.
8 [The Lord] will judge the world in righteousness. PSALM 9
11 God is a righteous judge. PSALM 7
The popular belief is that doing good deeds and refraining from doing evil deeds are enough to get us to the kingdom. Sad to say, that is a satanic teaching. To those who live by this understanding, the Lord would say:
42 I know you. I know that you do not have love of God in your hearts. JOHN 5
When we fall in love, we learn the things that please our loved one and do them. We court his or her pleasure and company. We do it with joy and gladness, even with long-suffering if needed. If this is how we profess love for a fellow mortal, how should we profess love for the Immortal One?
5 The Lord loves righteousness. PSALM 337 For the Lord is righteous. PSALM 11
Good deeds not motivated by love make God unhappy; it does not please Him. King Amaziah did what he thought was right in the Lord’s sight but God was not pleased. Why?
2 He did what was right from Adonai’s perspective, but not wholeheartedly. 2 CHRONICLES 25 cjb
A person may be gifted by the Spirit with prophecy or with healing, but if its use is not motivated by love, then such use is not appreciated in heaven. It was this point that St. Paul wanted to emphasize when he wrote:
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 CORINTHIANS 13
We check the fuel of our car before driving. We check our wallet before leaving the house. We must also make a habit of checking our motive before we do or say anything.
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. PROVERBS 4 nlt
Listen to the advice of King David to his son:
9 And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. 1 CHRONICLES 28
Love should be preeminent in our every deed. In the Gospel of the Hebrews, Y’shua said to His disciples, “"And never be joyful except when you look on your brother with love." (Wikipedia)
13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy [love], not sacrifice. MATTHEW 9
The teacher of the Law in Mark 12:28 remarked:
32 Well said, teacher. You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but Him. 33 To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 When Y’shua saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” MARK 12
Be Forewarned. Also check the righteousness of every one who poses as a God-worshiper, especially as a man of God. Many Christians and churches have been duped because they did not check the posers for their righteousness.
1 Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. 1 JOHN 4
16 By [their] fruits you shall recognize [them]. MATTHEW 7
If love is not the focal point of the poser’s words and actions, if there is inconsistency between his words and actions, then he is a pretender. Beware, for he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
30 He who is not with Me is against Me. MATTHEW 12
IN THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER, IT WAS SAID THAT LUCIFER REMOVED COMMANDMENT NO. 1 FROM THE TEN-C. WHY? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT IN RELATION TO THE NINE?
Commandment No. 1 tells us to do everything in love. The other commandments tell us how.
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments [love of God and love of neighbor]. MATTHEW 22
31 There is no other commandment greater than these. MARK 12
Commandment No. 1 is the sun around which all the other commandments revolve.
9 The commandments Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not covet, and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule: Love your neighbor as yourself. 10 Love is the fulfillment of the Law. ROMANS 13
Having said that, none of these motives is acceptable to God:
§ To observe the commandments for the sake of obeying. Such observance is mechanical and lifeless.
§ To observe in order to escape God’s Judgment and wrath. Such observance is motivated by fear. It is debased, a behavior fit only for animals.
§ To observe in order to be blessed with healing or prosperity or some other favor. Such observance is motivated by selfishness, which is most ungodly.
§ To observe so as to yield to peer or social pressure.
A Messianic group in Quezon City attends Sabbath services and does tithing because their lady employer requires them to. Stop tithing and stop from attending church if your motive in doing them is not love of God. Why? Because any act or sacrifice that is not meant for God is meant for somebody else. It does not please God. There is no spiritual gain whatsoever for you.
Tithing and attending church fellowships are called for religious acts. But religiosity with love of God missing in it is not righteousness at all but rather insipid and worthless do-nothing in God’s sight.
IF LOVE IS THE NATURE OF MAN, HOW COME OUR WORLD TODAY IS NOT LOVE-PERSONIFIED?
It is because the humankind as opted to set aside God. It has opted to pursue a path separate from Him and not grow into a fruitful tree. It has become the wasted seed in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23).
29 God made man upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes… 10 There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins. ECCLESIASTES 7
We are born, taught and conditioned to a world system that promotes erroneous love. And what is erroneous love?
§ It is fond of saying I love you with the selfish I preceding love.
§ It equates love with physical attraction and companionship, or worse, with “sexual oneness” the like of fornication, adultery, incest and homosexuality.
§ It prostitutes love and marries for money.
§ It discriminates whom to love.
§ It makes a trophy of the people it “loves” that they end up being idolized, caged and unhappy.
§ It sees love as an investment (as when politicians marry celebrities to add to their popularity, or when parents prepare their children to take care of them in their old age).
§ It speaks of love yet disregards God, which is ironical for “Love comes from God” (1 John 4:7). Where God is absent, love is absent.
Does all this sound familiar to you? Of course, it does! We are its fruits.
33 Make a tree good and its fruit will be good. Make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad. MATTHEW 12
Erroneous love makes us restless. It puts in us a gnawing emptiness that has to be satisfied, a void that has to be filled. Those who have reached the pinnacle of success in their careers, those surrounded with material comforts, those pedigreed in education, those of the so-called superior class, and those seated on positions of great power and authority—even they are restless, bored of what the world has to offer. They too are burdened and tire so easily in what they do.
No matter how hard we try to fill our emptiness with worldly appointments and trimmings, at the end of the day it begs to be resolved. Our hearts thirst for divine love, our minds thirst for divine love, our souls thirst for divine love, our strengths thirst for divine love…
17 The poor and the needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Isra’el, will not forsake them. ISAIAH 41
It is for the thirsty that God incarnated.
37 If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. JOHN 7
17 Whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. REVELATION 22 13 Whosoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. JOHN 4
28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. MATTHEW 11
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