Watch your Motives!

Peer pressure is not a malady suffered by teenagers and children, but also by adults. Many people would be shocked if they take an inventory of their motives. They would discover that a good number of their actions have been motivated and influenced by pressures and not necessarily by personal convictions.

Three years ago, I started a line of business. I was working, but decided to open another stream of income and I did. I shared my business idea with a friend who also desired to own her own business. Months later, this lady opened a shop next door to mine with my ideas! I must have done a wonderful job at selling my ideas!

Most of us live life without personal convictions and direction. We are easily influenced by external factors. When we see our friends selling gold, we jump in and sell gold. When our friends send their children to schools abroad we follow to do same without counting the cost. When we see that a particular church is ‘trending’ we leave our old church families. How long would we continue to live like this? What is the difference between a parent who behaves this way and a son who ‘sags’ his pants and shows off his boxer shorts to the public in the name of fashion? In Acts Chapter 5: 1-11, the bible records the story of a couple called Ananias and Sapphira. This couple belonged to a congregation that was made up of people we commonly call ‘dangerous givers’ today. These were people who gave their entire possessions to the church! By virtue of these selfless men and women, the bible records that all had things in common and no one lacked. Everyone ate from a common purse. Glory to God! Also their financial and material support to the early church ensured that the gospel was preached and lost souls were reached and saved. Amongst these dangerous givers was a man called Joses who sold his land and brought the entire proceeds to the Apostles. The Apostles named him Barnabas which meant “son of encouragement” (Acts 4: 32- 37) He was indeed a son of encouragement, one everybody needs in their team.

There was such a heavy activity of giving at this early church that Ananias and Sapphira did not want to be left out. They decided too to sell their land, but not out of a pure heart and definitely not out of a personal conviction. They sold the land and kept back some of the proceeds and presented to the Apostles a certain sum claiming to be the entire proceed from the sale. If you read the story, you would discover that this couple died as soon as the lie came out of their mouths. My question is did they have to sell their land? Was the lie necessary? No! Then why did they do it? It was the pressure of all the generous activities going on in the church. They wanted to be like others, act like Jose Barnabas, son of encouragement. Perhaps they too wanted to be given a special name by the Apostles. Probably, they wanted to be known as one of the rich people in the the church. Their schemes, manipulations and lies in the end cost them their lives. Was it worth it?

Everything we do in life must be done from a pure heart and a pure motive. Do not get into things that you are not convicted in your heart to do. It cannot be overemphasized that we must be led by the Lord before we step out to do anything. There are paths in life that look right but in the end lead to destruction. That is why copycatting is dangerous to your destiny. It is good to give. I give always to the Lord because without Him I am nothing. All that I have today came from Him so when there is an opportunity to be a blessing I step out and do what I can within the limits of what He has given me. God will never make a demand if He has not made a deposit. If He has not given you a million dollars, He will never ask that of you!

Please do not go and sell your property and give to a church if you are not led to do so. Ananias and Sapphira were not convicted to do what they did. They did it because everyone else was doing so. If you let people pressure you to give your entire life savings when God has not asked you to do so, you will suffer. Do not give out of pressure, but give out of love and out of a pure heart. Give because you are convicted and persuaded to do so by the Lord. Give because it is good to be a blessing to those less privileged than you, but do not give out of a competitive spirit or a desire to show off. May God guide you always in Jesus name.

May the Lord return a bountiful harvest for every seed you have sown for the furtherance of the Gospel. May He give you inspired ideas that will create wealth. For every poor, needy, orphan, widow and fatherless etc that you have been a source of blessing, may God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth open His heavenly treasures to you. Wherever you are experiencing dryness, let the dew of heaven come upon you. May the Lord protect you and your family and may He fight your battles. May His grace and peace be multiplied to you in Jesus name. Amen!