Have you ever tried to discern the heart of another? Do you sometimes think you
can see the motives of your neighbor’s heart? Do you ever feel justified in your
negative judgments of others? Have you tried to deceive others by pretending to be
better than them; or even worse – have you actually convinced yourself you are?

Only God can see and judge the heart – our true motivations. Many people can
maintain a good facade or social image, and we are sometimes surprised when
those the world has honored fall into scandal and shame. Yet, if we could truly see
the wicked motivations that pollute every human heart (even those who appear to be
pure), no evil act would shock us.

So what can we do to make the world a better place? We can examine our hearts
and honestly admit we are not who God made us to be. Although made in God’s
image we have rejected his goodness and tried to redefine life on our terms. When
we see our rebellious hearts and our great need for Him, we can then invite the
Savior to rescue us from this spiritual disease called Sin. As Christ our Redeemer
restores us, our motives begin to change and we care less about pretending to be
good. Instead we want to do good things for others as a way of showing our
gratitude to Jesus. Yes, we continually forget and need to be reminded, but we know
in our heart of hearts that only one thing matters: that we give ourselves to Christ
and do all we can to glorify God.

If we only want to glorify God, we don’t care so much about what others think of us.
If we truly want to glorify God, we will give him praise because we recognize that He
alone is good and worthy of all praise. Like little children we acknowledge that “God
is great; God is good.”

Our time on the earth is short; soon we will stand before Almighty God. In light of the
brevity of life and what truly matters, will you take the challenge? Will you ask
yourself the hard questions? So that when the time comes, you will be ready to
answer to God.

In my heart, in my thoughts, in my ambitions, in my choices, in my actions, in my
prayers…will I glorify God?