Why Do You Do What You Do?

Cindy Beall

I love the Holy Spirit.
He guides, counsels, comforts, and protects.

I appreciate the guidance that comes as a gentle nudge to write a much-needed note to a friend who is hurting. I am amazed at the counsel that falls from my lips when I have no earthly idea what to say to a woman in need. I adore the comfort I get when I am hurting and no one on this earth can do the trick. I love knowing that my children are protected within a hedge erected by the One True God.

But He also convicts.
And dang if I don't like that,convict.

Please don't misunderstand me. I love the outcome of conviction but am just not a fan of the discomfort that goes along with it. But, it's necessary. It's necessary for growth and a changed life. And I want a changed life.
I raise this issue of conviction with you because I have been slammed with it on every side in regard to a particular issue in my life.

My motives.
The why behind what I do.

Questions haunting me recently have had to do with the purity, or lack of it, behind why I do things or why I say things or why I write things or why I go to the places I go.

I think you get my point.

Do I do things I do to get my name out or to see what people think about me or to make sure I'm seen shaking the right hand or hugging the right neck? Do I want recognition so that my self-esteem and fleshly desires can be unhealthily fed? Do I comment or speak just to hear myself?

Sometimes.
Sometimes I do.

I want to have pure motives. I want to have an agenda that is solely about building the Kingdom of God. I want to get my desires out of the way long enough so that I can be fully yielded to what I absolutely know God has called me to do.

Still starving the flesh.
Is anybody hearin' what I'm sayin'?