“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?’” (Zechariah 7:5-6)
Have you ever done the right thing, but for the wrong reasons? The kind of thing we don’t like to admit out loud?
A few years ago, I was considering a fast. I thought, it’ll be for God. It will increase my faith. I am obviously becoming a really good Christian if I can do this. (I was feeling pretty righteous about the whole thing.)
But then I noticed a pattern in my research. I was looking less at the faith-growing aspects of the fast, and more at the practical, like how long I wouldn’t eat and if I would lose weight during it.
I was still struggling with some baby weight and, consciously or subconsciously, I saw a fast as a God-approved diet. On the outside, it would have looked like I was continuing on my journey of faith. But on the inside, I was looking to lose some weight, hopefully with the God stamp of approval.
I’m not proud of this. But when I read this verse, I immediately thought of how I had wanted to do the right thing, but for the wrong reason. In the end, I didn’t do the fast. But how many times did I do something similar?
RSVP for a birthday party so that child would come to my child’s party. Give to charity to impress someone. Say sorry to keep the other person from being mad.
Do the right thing for the right reason
How do we switch our thinking? How do we check ourselves to make sure our hearts are in the right place when we do things?
Jesus said that after His death, he would not leave us alone, but send the Spirit to live within us, to guide and counsel us. We are never alone in our decisions, unless we choose to be.
Through prayer and self-awareness, we can change the way we think and act. But we need to listen to those inner stirrings that tell us when we are doing the wrong thing. That feeling is the Holy Spirit working on our hearts.
Doing the right thing for the right reason isn’t easy. It goes against our selfish natures, our desire to gain something from every opportunity. But when we walk in Christ’s footsteps, we gain something much more valuable than any selfish reward this world can offer.
Have a blessed Monday!
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