God’s Motivation

22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. (Ezekiel 36)

We often confuse God’s love for us with His motivation for acting on our behalf when we find ourselves at the ground zero of our sin. We have been willingly disobedient, and after experiencing the pain that comes with that we attempt to turn back to God looking for some kind of restoration to our previous glory. But for those of us who have been redeemed by Jesus and have been adopted as God’s kids He is most likely to act on our behalf in order to prove that He is who He says He is. As He did for Israel, God will continually restore us for His Glory because it is His greatness that needs to shine into the lives of the lost.

So, while it might be a little depressive to think that God isn’t primarily motivated by His love for us we should be all the more encouraged that He will NEVER forsake us because His reputation is at stake.