Get my heart right

Is there such a thing as a “bad” good deed? Or a “good” bad deed? Can I mess up and actually mean well? Can I do what looks good to others, but it is sin in my heart?

I am sure this is true, at least in some cases and for several reasons. One of them is that, “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). In the mind of God, whatever comes from the heart determines the “goodness” or “badness” of my actions. This judgment is based on what He knows, not what other people see or think.

Jesus said something similar in Luke 6:45, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
God knows my heart. He expects what is in there will come out. That is, because Jesus is there, He expects to see evidence in my life. However, if I’m angry, or sad, or jealous in my heart, no doubt that will come out also.

But life is not always that straightforward. What if I do something that strikes others as wrong? I’m not talking about actual wrong, like murder, adultery, even speeding in a school zone. It’s more like when I offer my opinion, or do some type of service and others think that I am saying or doing the wrong thing. It happens.

Jesus is a strong example of this. He “went about doing good” and “never sinned” yet was criticized by many, even called demonic by some. He did good as God measures good, but much of it was misinterpreted and called “bad” by others.

On the other side of the coin, those same people did what looked “good” in their own eyes. They were religious, gave alms to the poor, prayed on the street corners, and seemed devoted to God. Yet Jesus told them they were a “brood of vipers.” He knew that their hearts were not right, that it was all show and no spirit.

Today’s devotional verse says, “For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers” (Romans 1:9).

The author thinks that this usage of “spirit” is the same as when we say someone does something with a great deal of effort, like a football team who plays with great spirit. Maybe. But it could also mean that the innermost part of Paul (who wrote that verse) is the source of his service and prayer. He is not doing it to look good on the outside, nor is he doing it out of a sense of duty or obligation. Instead, the inner man, the redeemed man who is filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ is in control of his life. That part of him that connects with God and is deeply aware of right and wrong, that part where faith begins, is his motivation.

I’m convicted by this. Sometimes the Holy Spirit moves my spirit to talk and act, but sometimes I just do what is expected and am not fully engaged in it from the heart. Instead, my actions are motivated by my fleshy and sinful self.

If Paul was motivated in that way, this verse would not say what it does. For instance, people seldom pray for others without ceasing unless God moves them in their prayers. Paul was moved by God. He did not serve in the flesh; yet sometimes I do. God is my witness. He knows, and I know from observation and personal experience, that I might appear to be doing good, but my heart is not in it.

This is an example of a “bad” good deed. It might fool some people, but when I do it, I know it and so does God.

From this, I hear His word to me today: “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality” (Colossians 3:23-25).