Motivations matter. In fact, they are arguably more important than our actions. When I was a college student, I did an internship at my home church in Warren, Michigan. I was young. I was cocky. I ended up being lazy...at that time in my life. One of my responsibilities was that I was put in charge of a floundering van route. The purpose of this ministry was to provide rides for kids who couldn’t make it to church on their own, much like what we offer at Emmanuel to our community. When I took over that struggling van route, I arrogantly proclaimed that I would “grow it” by the end of the summer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t really invested in outreach at that time of my life, and the van decreased by the time it was my time to go back to college.
What was the deciding fact? I didn’t really care. The results proved it. There was an encounter that Jesus had with the hypocritical religious leaders, much like my experience so many years ago. They brought a woman who had been caught violating the Mosaic Law when it came to morals. In particular, she had committed adultery. So, they brought her to Jesus, and demanded that he decide how to handle her. They genuinely thought that they had trapped him. If he told them to show mercy to her, then he would be disregarding the holy law of Moses. If he told them to stone her, then he would be violating his own words that he had been preaching about mercy and grace. How he handled them is for another devotional written by one of our other team leaders. For now, I want to focus on their motives.
Sometimes we can be blinded by our own pride, bitterness, or even arrogance to the point where we don’t care who we hurt along the way. These hypocritical leaders hated Jesus so much that they were willing to dismiss the collateral damage to get what they wanted. They wanted Jesus gone. They wanted Jesus dead. Did they truly care about this woman or her alleged adultery? Not a chance! In fact, many theologians believe that they “set her up” in order to have a way to trap Jesus.
Remember, motives matter. Whenever you allow your pride to persuade you to pursue popularity, prestige, prosperity, or power, there will be people along the way who are collateral damage. They matter more to Jesus than your selfish pursuits. This woman was important to Jesus, and he showed it. Read the rest of the story, and you will know exactly what I mean. For now, look at your present decisions and consider the effects they are having on the people all around you.
When I think back to that internship, I did just enough to get by. To be honest, I never would have chosen to even lead that van route if it had been up to me. Did I truly care about those kids? My actions proved that the answer was a very sad “no.” Of course, I learned a great deal from those early ministry failures. I’d say that outreach has been my greatest passion since that important lesson. That is a devotional for another time. For now, please recognize that people matter to Jesus more than anything else. The hypocritical religious leaders shamedly attempted to exploit someone as bait to trap Jesus, and he emphatically “called them out” for it. In the end they didn’t care at all about this woman.
As you go through this week, consider how your choices are going to affect others. You and I don’t live in “bubbles!” It’s never acceptable to achieve self-centered pursuits at the expense of others. Reverse the curse of this kind of selfishness. As you motor full steam ahead, take a peek in your side mirrors at who’s around you! They matter to God!
What was the deciding fact? I didn’t really care. The results proved it. There was an encounter that Jesus had with the hypocritical religious leaders, much like my experience so many years ago. They brought a woman who had been caught violating the Mosaic Law when it came to morals. In particular, she had committed adultery. So, they brought her to Jesus, and demanded that he decide how to handle her. They genuinely thought that they had trapped him. If he told them to show mercy to her, then he would be disregarding the holy law of Moses. If he told them to stone her, then he would be violating his own words that he had been preaching about mercy and grace. How he handled them is for another devotional written by one of our other team leaders. For now, I want to focus on their motives.
Sometimes we can be blinded by our own pride, bitterness, or even arrogance to the point where we don’t care who we hurt along the way. These hypocritical leaders hated Jesus so much that they were willing to dismiss the collateral damage to get what they wanted. They wanted Jesus gone. They wanted Jesus dead. Did they truly care about this woman or her alleged adultery? Not a chance! In fact, many theologians believe that they “set her up” in order to have a way to trap Jesus.
Remember, motives matter. Whenever you allow your pride to persuade you to pursue popularity, prestige, prosperity, or power, there will be people along the way who are collateral damage. They matter more to Jesus than your selfish pursuits. This woman was important to Jesus, and he showed it. Read the rest of the story, and you will know exactly what I mean. For now, look at your present decisions and consider the effects they are having on the people all around you.
When I think back to that internship, I did just enough to get by. To be honest, I never would have chosen to even lead that van route if it had been up to me. Did I truly care about those kids? My actions proved that the answer was a very sad “no.” Of course, I learned a great deal from those early ministry failures. I’d say that outreach has been my greatest passion since that important lesson. That is a devotional for another time. For now, please recognize that people matter to Jesus more than anything else. The hypocritical religious leaders shamedly attempted to exploit someone as bait to trap Jesus, and he emphatically “called them out” for it. In the end they didn’t care at all about this woman.
As you go through this week, consider how your choices are going to affect others. You and I don’t live in “bubbles!” It’s never acceptable to achieve self-centered pursuits at the expense of others. Reverse the curse of this kind of selfishness. As you motor full steam ahead, take a peek in your side mirrors at who’s around you! They matter to God!
Posted in Devotional