Motives and temptation

My Korean brother-in-law told me a few days ago that my niece (the 17-year-old daughter of my late husband's sister, whom I wouldn't know if I tripped over her) is coming to America and will be staying with me for nine months, from January to September. Bang. That's the way they do it in Korea, I guess; they take family seriously.

I suppose I could overrule the plan if I really tried. But I seem to recall I signed up for Romans 12:1 when I became a Christian, so this is a reasonable "living sacrifice" application. It's all a matter of perspective, of course. Being put out in America is not like being put out in Bangladesh.

I thought I had examined my motives thoroughly and ferreted out all temptations to sin. The temptation, naturally, would be to veto the visit out of selfishness, laziness, and disinclination to take on extra cooking, cleaning, chauffeuring, and (yes) even conversation. Having addressed that heart issue, I resolved that I would put up no objection to a plan that, in any case, seems to be a done deal.

Only later did it occur to me that there was a temptation skulking on the other side that was harder to see. Was there not a familiar impulse in me to embrace a good deed for the bad motive of wanting to feel good and righteous about myself, not to mention earning favor with my relatives and everyone from my kids to the mailman?

Now the reason that other friendly looking motive had to be addressed is because in the end it could cause as much trouble as the more hateful-looking motive. Although the Greek mythological monsters Scylla and Charybdis were both repulsive to the eye (the former had six heads on long necks, and the latter had a single gaping mouth), in real life our temptations range from the grotesque to the garbed in light. Hospitality and friendliness rooted in self-interest will not long endure, but will turn to resentment.

Every day during my prayer walks I ask God to "search me and see what wicked ways there are in me," and so I was grateful that He gave me that glimpse I had almost missed. And now, with the motives question brought into the open and left with no clear sense of leading but a rather 50/50 leaning, I am asking the Lord to do what he does so well-to open and close doors, and bring about what He wants to do in the life of a young Korean woman who may be just about to change my life.

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