Motivation

I have recently been listening to the book “Think Like A Monk” while I drive to and from work. In one of the chapters the author talks about how we are all motivated by one of four motivators. The four motivators are fear, desire, duty, and love. When we take a step back and look at our lives we all are motivated by one of these four motivators. Take our job for instance. We can be motivated to work out of fear that if we don’t we will end up homeless. We can be motivated to work out of desire to have the big house and nice car. We can be motivated to work out of duty and the feeling of having to provide for our family and those around us. We can be motivated to work out of love for what we do and the impact it is having. 

We give this example of motivation with work but you can really apply to any aspect of your life. What is interesting too is it can be okay to have different motivations to get you to do something. It’s not wrong to have motivation to work because you have to pay the bills. It’s not wrong to be motivated to volunteer somewhere based on duty. However, I can’t help but think that the times we will be at our best whether it is for work, in relationships, or in any other area of life is when we are motivated by love.

I think about this in regards to our walk with Christ. I ask myself, “What is your motivation in following Christ?” Is it out of fear that I will be sent to hell if I don’t? Is it out of a desire to have the best eternity ever? Is it out of duty because I know what Christ has done for me? Or is it because of the great love I have for Him because of His love for me? While fears, desire, and duty might push me into a relationship with God I can’t help but think that love is what should motivate me.

When we looked at what Jesus had to say about the Holy Spirit in John 14, he started off by saying, “If you love me.” He mentioned the statement “If you love me” several other times in the same passage. He didn’t say “if you fear me, if you desire to have great things, or if you feel like you have to.” No, Jesus said, “If you love me.” 

So let’s ask ourselves what is our motivation in following Christ? Is it out of love or is it for some other reason. If it's not out of love let’s examine our lives and see how we can help get our motivation for following Christ to love.

Joel Harper