Any any of us have truly pure motives? Even the most intimate relation we can have with another person through marriage has aspects that prove our motives to be less than pure. Do I ever do the dishes just for the good of my wife or do I do them do benefit myself (read: so she doesn’t get frustrated with me because she already asked me 8 times)? Do I rub my wife’s neck just because she asked me to or do I have some ulterior motive? I’m not saying that there is a desire for something in return in every situation, but I am saying that there are selfish motives at least some of the time. The only person with pure motives for every interaction with us is God.
When I read through the chapter on creation from Mark Driscoll’s book, Doctrine, one of his points on what creation teaches us about God really stuck out to me. God is independent. That heading isn’t what stuck out to me. Driscoll mentions Paul’s message on Mars Hill leading into what really captured me:
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything.” [Acts 17:24-25] Because God is independent, he alone can truly and purely love; since he does not need us, his interactions with us alone are of pure motive.
I want my motives to be pure in every relationship I have, especially with my wife. Pure motives come when you don’t need anything. When you can honestly say “I am doing this because I live you, not because I need you to do something or even because I want you to display your love in return,” then you are operating under pure motives.
I know I have failed at this and will continue to fail often, but I want start doing things for my wife without any motivation other than my love for her. I want to do the same with my friends and coworkers. I am not like God in that I do need a lot from Him others, but there are moments of true and pure love when I can act with pure intentions. In those moments, I shouldn’t need the possibility of something in return or even a motivational poster to inspire me to do something.
I feel motivated, don't you?