God judges our motives

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9
In both the Old and the New Testament, we read how God doesn’t judge our words, actions, and thoughts at face value, but instead for the motive behind them (see Prov. 16:2, Matt. 5:27-28, 6:1-2, 5, 16, 1 Cor. 3:10-13, 1 Cor. 4:5, Jas. 4:3, etc.). We may say and do all the right things, but if the motivation is not out of love for God then those things are worthless (1 Cor. 13:3).
Likewise, there are many passages of Scripture that talk of God searching our hearts. In fact, God is the only one who can know our hearts – the most inner part of us. Even we don’t know our own hearts (1 John 3:20, Jer. 17:9).
So how should we live, then – since our hearts are judged for their motives, but we don’t know our own hearts? This is where we need to be open to the Holy Spirit. If we have been born again, then the Spirit of God is dwelling in our hearts, purifying us. We need to be sensitive to His prompting. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I used to think this verse meant God will give you whatever you want, but that is inconsistent with the rest of Scripture – God is not Santa Claus. Rather, it can also mean, if we delight in the Lord, He will place His desires within our hearts. When we allow this to happen, we can be sure that our motives are godly and true, because they come from God Himself.