…does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own,… 1 Cor. 13:5
Our knowledge of good and evil can only inspire our carnal nature to perform self-centered works. No matter how noble, how sacrificial these works look, they are still self-centered. Unfortunately, one of the realities of Christian ministry is that it is public and often results in the praises of man and, if we are honest, this is our goal. In the event that our actions may have gone unnoticed, we can find ourselves mulling over the various ways to get the attention we covet. Worse, even negative attention can serve our need.
Our knowledge of good and evil is always informing us why it is important to get noticed:
- God will be glorified in our good works – even though we take the glory for ourselves,
- Others will be inspired to follow in our footsteps,
- We can show others that the Christian life is admirable, etc.
These imaginations of our heart can and will feed our self-centeredness in a multitude of ways and worse, rob God.
Christ left us with several ways to fast (not feed) our self-centeredness:
- do your giving, doing and praying in secret
- do not take a title such as Rabbi or Father
- humble yourself, admit your failings to each other
- do not pray long prayers in front of others
- do not dress to gain attention or authority
In the end, to unlearn our affection for our knowledge of good and evil we need revelation. When our motives are exposed for all their self-centeredness, we humbly crawl to the Tree of Life. When we realize that the only works that are not self-centered are those that Christ does through us, we meekly perform His works detesting any notice from others. These are the works that cause men to glorify their Father which is in heaven.