Someone said something last night at Bible Study that really stood out to me. We were talking about love and how we are to be characterized by it as followers of God, who IS love. This is my slight paraphrase of what she said:
“Anything that I do with ill-will is done badly.”
It’s not done “poorly”, or just “okay” – it’s done badly.
This really hit me. I can do a “good” deed, something that might appear to be beneficial and done well. I can plan it all out and accomplish something nice. But if my motive is wrong, if I am not acting out of love, out of wanting the best for that other person, then what I did was done badly. God deals with the heart of the matter. While He is concerned with what I DO, He cares more about HOW I do it and WHO I am.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Cor. 13:1)
