The LORD weighs the motives.

Matthew 5:27-48 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.

³¹ “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce’; ³² but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. ⁴¹ Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. ⁴² Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸ Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Proverbs 16:2 says:  All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives.   Jeremiah 17:9-10 says:  “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”     So, it is not only what we do whether good or bad, but our motives for doing it that God sees and knows. Doing good, for selfish motives, is not rewarded by God. In Matthew 6:1-6 Jesus says:  “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”    In the same way, Jesus says that even if we refrain from sinful actions but our thoughts are full of evil, our hearts are not right before the Lord. In today’s text He says:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”    While Jesus is not actually promoting self mutilation, the truth remains that our eternal destiny outweighs what we have or do not have here on earth. The real heart of what Jesus is saying here though goes along with what James 1:14-15 says:  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.   We need to avoid the things that tempt us, lest we give into the temptation and are dragged into sin. In Job 31:1, Job says:  “I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin?”    The best way to avoid sin is to avoid temptation. I can’t speak for others, but I know for myself that when it comes to anything that I desire, it is easier to stop at zero than one.  

Jesus also says in today’s text:  “Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.”    I work in sales and often hear people say, let me be honest, or I’ll be honest with you. If we are truly honest people, if as Jesus says, our yes means yes and our no means no, we would not have to point out when we are being honest. If we were determined to speak only truth, we would make no false vows or statements. It would not be necessary to promise or swear to anything.

Finally, in today’s text Jesus says:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”    Even in love our motives are important. Do we love others so that we will be loved by them? Do we love others because it is what is right in the eyes of our culture and society? If those are our motives for love, while it may seem good, our hearts are still wrong before God. To love so that we will be loved in return is really selfishness not love. To love so that we are right in the eyes of our culture means that we must love according to the way of our culture and not the way of God. That is love based on the fear of man, not the righteousness of God. The motive and the basis of our love should be this:  We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19)  Our love for others should be based on and be a result of and response to the love of God for us. God’s love is demonstrated in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) God’s love is that He:  so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)  Jesus says the motive of our love should be that:  “You may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”   He says:  “You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”   God’s love is perfect and that perfect love is to be both the model and the motivation for our love. Love should not be based on the fear of not being loved by others. Neither should it be based in the fear of rejection or persecution because it does not meet the cultural standard. Our love is to be like the perfect love of God.     Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.  (1 John 4:15-19)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit because of Your perfect love, because of the demonstration of Your love, because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for my sin, because of Your abiding presence may I have the confidence to say as the psalmist: Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. May I be perfect, perfected by You. May both all of my deeds and my thoughts be found righteous in Your sight because of Your love.   Amen.