Both Matter

... suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions as they feast with you.... - 2 Peter 2:13

Have you ever asked yourself this question? Why did I do that? I imagine that if you still have a heartbeat, then you have wondered sometimes at your own motive behind a bad decision. It is probably no surprise that the Father knows our motives even before we do, and for this reason we don't always share a "desire" for such omniscience.

As he continued in this second letter, Peter pulled back the false teacher's veil of righteousness to reveal the ugliness of a deceptive heart, and in doing so, reminds us that God not only sees what we do, but also why we do it.

King David prayed, "Lord, keep me from hidden faults?" Why? Simply because it is entirely possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Both motive and action matter.

Cruel and cold is the judgment of man, cruel as winter, and cold as the snow; but by-and-by will the deed and the plan be judged by the motive that lieth below. - Lewis J. Bates