Motives

God is teaching me a lot about my motives. I have always craved validation, approval and affirmation from people to let me know I was a "good christian". Growing up I tried to be extra good by going the extra mile for people, letting others know I was praying for them, reading my bible every night and being involved in christian organizations and bible studies. Today I can get caught in that same mental trap of performing by going on lots of missions, being a volunteer on the weekends or working tons of overtime at my job. These are all great things but what is my motive behind it? Am I focused on what others think, "Do people see what I'm doing?" "Do they know how hard I'm working?" "What do they think of me?". Or am I focused on how God wants to use me asking questions like, "God, how do you want to use me on this mission?" "What areas do you want me to serve?" "What direction do you want to take my projects and the missions ministry?"

God is showing me more and more that I have it backwards. My focus, love and attention all needs to be on God and daily growing in my personal relationship with him. I truly truly want to do what God has created me to do, I want him to use me to make a signficant impact on his Kingdom. I am working on keeping this focus on God and not worrying about approval of others. I'm excited to see where God takes me!