Anyone who knows even a fraction of who I am knows how much I love my two daughters. When Hannah and Halle were in school, I would start each morning by cooking breakfast and lunch for them. I would make a point to be at all their events no matter what. Whether it was a 20-minute race or a 3-hour dance recital, I was there for them, even when it conflicted with work. I remember a time when I was getting ready to accept a manager’s position at my job and before I made my decision, I had to be sure that I would be able to maintain my current level of involvement in my girls’ lives. The director ensured that they were already aware of how involved I was in my kids’ lives and that it would not interfere. It was assumed that I was motivated to do what I do for my kids because of what I lacked as a kid with an inactive father. They were wrong though. My motivation is simple. I love my kids and I want to be there for them. No one knows the true motivation of person’s heart, only that person and God.
What motivates the things you do every day? What motivates you in your walk with Christ?
“I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (Jn. 14:30-31)
“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” (2 Cor. 5:14)
We see that in these two verses, both Jesus and Paul demonstrated that the Love of God was the motivating factor in their lives. On the night he was to be betrayed, Jesus was not concerned with the enemy’s plan but only with showing the world His love and that this love was expressed through his obedience to the Father’s will. Dying for the sins of mankind was the full expression of love to the Father and with the understanding that the enemy was only playing a part in the Father’s masterful plan to redeem mankind.
Paul, the one who once persecuted the Church, the believers in Jesus Christ, had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life forever. Paul knew that through all he had done, God still loved him and wanted to use him for his glory and His purpose. His sole motivation for enduring all that he did, from punishment to persecution, was because of the Love of Christ!
Today we have several factors intended to get us going and keep us moving forward. We’ve seen many great changes made in the world because of leaders’ motivations to keep pushing. Some motivations are good and some are bad. All in all, we are all moved to action or inaction by something deep within us all. A few motivators that commonly drive our actions are:
- Happiness
- The desire to lead a better life than what you had as kid
- Security
- Prosperity/Money
- Success
- Influence
- Purpose
- Reputation
- Fear of Failure
- Health
- Fill in the blank _______
Sometimes these motivations work in life and sometimes they don’t. What do you do when that happens? Do you seek out something else to motivate you? Do you keep trying and trying until you find that one thing that motivates you? Well, I would say for the Christian, there is to be only one motivation, Love! It is not about purpose, achievement, legacy, for these things God will take care of Himself. If we look at the bible closely, the people did not seek God for their purpose, God reveals his purpose to them and then equipped them to complete his purpose. Why? Because it is His life and purpose that matter. We don’t seek him to find purpose but we seek him because we love to be in His presence and His will for life. All that matters is that the Father is glorified and that we bare much fruit, this is done through abiding, (Jn. 15:10)
If Jesus’ life now lives in us, then what motived Him to live should also be what motives us to do what we do in this world.
Any other motivation that comes apart from the love of Christ, is simply earthly and its reward is simply only good for here on earth.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is [already] laid, which is Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). But if anyone builds upon the Foundation, whether it be with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done” (1 Cor. 3:11-13 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
My Reason:
“For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” (1 Cor. 9:16-19)
“I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, “(1 Tim. 1:12)
People often ask about my decision to move out to the reservation to preach and minister to the Navajo people. I did not choose the reservation, God appointed me to the reservation for a time. I don’t have a set plan, or a strict schedule, the Love of Christ motivates my every move and decision. Paul prayed that the Ephesians would come to know the depth, height, and width of God’s Love. I can’t say that I know these things fully, but what God has made known to me has forever changed the reason why I do things in life. I am enlightened by the Holy Spirit on how much Jesus gave up for me, all of heaven and separation from His Father; for me, a sinner! My heart cry now is “Father, whatever you want from this life you have given, I will gladly do because you first loved me and now I love you. And I want the world to know I love the Father and do what the Father asks me.” As Norman Grubb once wrote, “My, ‘No’ has been swallowed up by my ‘Yes’.
Jesus traveled way further than I can ever travel in this world to rescue me, therefore, I will travel wherever, whenever He wants me to teach people what it means to be a New Creature in Christ so that they may come to know the love of God and hopefully live out of their new identity in Jesus. No fame, status, money, or anything else this world has to offer means anything to me. All that matters to me at this point in my walk with Christ is that I am obedient to my heavenly Father and allowing His Love to flow through me that others may see and experience the Love of God through me.
“Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.” (2 Cor. 2:17)
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb. 11:13-16)
I pray that after reding this, your motivation in life will be changed because of the love that God has poured out into the life of those who are called His children. Through this, we can be sure that when we see Jesus, we will receive a crown of righteousness as Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy.
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” (2 Tim:4:8)