The Motives of the Heart (1 Cor. 4:3-5)

But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
(1 Corinthians 4:3-5, NASB)

We Christians like to quote another verse about judgment a lot: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged” (Luke 6:37, NKJV). But I like today’s verse even better: “… do not go on passing judgment [because] the Lord … will bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts …”

We have no idea what’s in a person’s heart. We can point fingers all we want, but God is the ultimate judge. And because we cannot know what goes on between a person and God, we must not judge.

God examines … not us.

There’s something in human nature that wants to be judge and jury. We love it when someone else seems to stumble. Our flesh likes to think we’re somehow better than someone else. But we all have sin of some kind in our lives. And we all have things we do to build God’s kingdom.

And I’m going out on a limb here, but I think God judges the person who does “good” with a wrong motive just as He does someone who practices sin. What I mean is if I’m using a gift He’s given me, but with a prideful heart, I’m sinning. Pride is a sin. Just like anger. Or gossip. Or covetousness. Or murder. Or adultery.

Or what about when I follow God’s will for my life, but I do it grudgingly, whining and complaining all the way? God will judge that as well because He also looks at my heart’s motives. It’s like the parable Jesus told about the two sons:

"Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.' The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went. The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went. Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first" (Matthew 21:28-32, MSG).

It’s a tall order: We need to live as sinless as we possibly can, and we need to serve with right motives.

But praise God, we’re not in this alone. We have the Holy Spirit within us to encourage us when we’re struggling and to convict us when we veer from God’s path. And when we serve God with right hearts, He will reward us and bless us.

So the bottom line is, we need to watch out for ourselves. We need to focus on our own own relationships with God.

We need to leave all judgment to the only One who has the right to judge … and it’s not us!