Motivation is defined as that which moves us toward an action, provokes us to decisions and precipitates change. Motivation is powerful ... and important.
At a busy dental office, a patient was in the habit of arriving late. When he received a reminder call to confirm an appointment, he said, “I’ll be about 15 minutes late. That won’t be a problem, will it?”
“No,” replied the dental assistant. “We just won’t have time to give you an anesthetic.”
He has been arriving for appointments 10 minutes early ever since!
A bit closer to home … two years ago, while cleaning out my garage, I threw out all of my fishing equipment. I was certain that I would never use any of it again; that is until a couple of weeks ago when my granddaughter asked me if I had ever fished. I said that I used to take her father fishing.
She said, “Grandpa, I want to learn how to fish and I want you to be the one to teach me.”
All at once, I am motivated to buy new fishing equipment!
The Bible has a lot to say about motivation. Jesus was, of course, exemplary in this. He explained that His primary motive and purpose “... is to do the will of Him (God) who sent Me and to finish His work.” (John 4:34)
David, king of Israel and prolific writer of Psalms, exhibited a comparable motivation. In Psalm 40:8, David stated, “I desire to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
Later he wrote, “... earth has nothing I desire besides you.” (Psalm 73:25)
Christians are supposed to be motivated and inspired in a similar fashion. However, it’s relatively easy for selfishness, self-aggrandizement and the “it’s all about me” syndrome to confuse or even contaminate otherwise pure motives. I wonder at times if we really do much of anything with a truly selfless motive.
No doubt this was one of the reasons that Jesus taught, “The greatest among you will be your servant ...” (Matthew 23:11)
To follow Christ, we are called to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. (Matthew 16:24)
The cross represents death and Jesus’ message is that only as we die to self can we truly follow Him. We do that by placing God first and by being motivated not by “... vanity and conceit, but by considering others better than ourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
Our motives should be to seek and serve God, “Not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.” (Ephesians 6:6)
“Men are more accountable for their motives, than for anything else ...,” says Archibald Alexander.
Pastor Ross Helgeton is senior pastor at Erskine Evangelical Free Church.