What is your MOTIVE?
A motive is the reason for doing something, especially a reason that might be hidden or not obvious. That motive can be good or bad.
Years ago a friend said he saw an older guy at the gym every day and he would be on the treadmill. He was regular, like clockwork. One day he was talking to him and asked him what helps you to be so faithful to exercising? The man said I come up here and do this every day because my reward is the cinnamon roll I eat when I get home. I guess we could scratch our heads all day as to whether or not that man's motive was good or bad.
Have you ever looked at someone and thought “boy they really need some motivation?” Other times you look at someone and ask yourself, “what is it that keeps them going?” Some people, it just seems like nothing ever stops them, they have something down deep inside that keeps them going. Again there are good motives and there are bad motives.
If we'll be honest with ourselves, many times in our spiritual life we get motivated to live our life for God. Then with the passing of time that motivation begins to wear off. Something similar to what I'm talking about happens every year in January with all the new gym memberships that don't get used for the other 11 months. This can happen in our spiritual lives when maybe we get really excited during the Chapel service or our personal time with God. That emotional response has a tendency to dwindle if we don't have the proper motives in our spiritual life. I really think that “why” we do what we do, is important.
The Apostle Paul went through many trials and a lot of things that would have stopped me dead in my tracks. However, the Apostle Paul kept going, like the Duracell bunny. Paul wrote several of the letters in the New Testament, and in one of them he explains his motivations that keep him going. I have that text written out below with some thoughts about it. I want to encourage you to give some thought and consideration to what the Bible says about this.
Paul’s 4 Motives that helped him stay faithful
One of Paul's motives was his confidence about Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
---[earthly house is talking about our earthly body]
2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
---[house from heaven is the glorified body to come , look up Phil 1.21-24]
3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
---[Lots of troubles and struggles in this life that make us desire heaven]
5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
---[The Holy Spirit is the earnest or down payment and assurance of heaven]
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
We have to stop and understand what Paul is talking about here. Salvation by faith in Christ Jesus brings confidence in our eternal home. Make no mistake you can K – N – O –W that you will go to Heaven when you die. Salvation by faith in Christ Jesus is a “know so” salvation because of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross for us.
1 John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
Naturally the Apostle Paul wrote a lot about his heavenly home. It is far too lengthy to put in here but if you want to read 1st Corinthians chapter 15 you will find that wonderful chapter explaining the transitioning or difference between this body and the body we will have in heaven. One of the greatest blessings will be that the struggle with sin will finally come to an end. See Rom 8:23.
Paul's longing for heaven motivated him in his living for God. Let's think about an example a little closer to home. Sometimes in the county jail we are motivated to behave ourselves because we have not gone to court yet. Think about it. That which is coming up in the future affects the way we act now. Paul's motivation was not an upcoming court charge but rather the future of his heavenly home and he wanted to live worthy of that reality.
The 2nd thing that motivated Paul was his desire to please Christ.
9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.
12 For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart.
His longing to be accepted of him is not referring to salvation, that is settled with our faith in Christ as Savior. He is talking about having pleased him as a child of God.
He talks about the judgment seat of Christ. We have to understand this is not where lost people will stand but where the child of God will stand. We may not stand at the Great White throne judgment (Rev 20:11-15) but we will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. It says very clearly that we will be judged according to what we have done while we were here on earth. Let's think about a verse that goes along with this topic.We call this a companion verse, or a text that shows more detail about it.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
---[the foundation, our salvation is Jeuss Christ alone]
12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
---[what we build upon it is our life we live after receiving Christ]
13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
---[our christian life is judged based on what we have done and why (what sort)]
14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
---[there are rewards for what we will have done as a Christian]
15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
---[The will be loss of rewards, but not loss of salvation]
While Paul said that eternity was settled and that heaven was to be his home, he knew there was a judgment where he would give an account for his life as a child of God. This motivated him to want to please the Lord. It is so important to understand that having the “proper desire” to want to please God goes a long way in our journey through this life as a child of God.
The 3rd compelling force that kept him going was the love of Christ that he had experienced.
13 For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge,
that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Do you realize what it means to be constrained(verse 14 above)? I think of a straitjacket in a mental hospital as an example. A person wants to lash out, but they constrain him. When constrained with that straightjacket the person is no longer doing what he desires, but he is constrained by what somebody else desires.
Paul considered how much God loved him and how God proved that love by allowing Jesus Christ to die for his sins. This expression of love affected him. The love of Christ constrained him, produced in him that which was not natural.
Look again at the verse and then at verse 14. Paul was able to contemplate why Jesus Christ would do what he did. The reason he died for all, is because men are dead in their sins. That is why Jesus Christ allowed wicked men to nail him to the cross. Look at verse 15 again. This produces a logical conclusion that because of this great love, it gives all the reason to live for Jesus Christ while we are here in this world.
There are times in this life when we can feel like no one loves us, and that can bring on some pretty “dark” times. However, that is never a reality for the child of God. God loves us and the cross that Jesus died on is the proof. Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. If we are saved we should always keep the love of Christ on the forefront of our mind.
A lot of people think they have a good reason for living. They think that they have a good motive for the life that they are living in this world. The best way to live life in this world is to live life for the life giver which is God.
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
The Giver of life
has the best recipe for life,
follow the recipe!
The 4th motivation that he speaks of is his commission from God, the task at hand.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
To be reconciled, is “to be brought back into agreement with”. As an example, I have met several men in the county jail that have been hurt greatly because of relationships that are damaged with family members. I know of a handful of men that I have prayed for and then out of the blue their family member reaches out to them. That is answered prayer. What happens is reconciliation, being brought back together. It is genuinely a beautiful thing. The Cross that Jesus died on was God's reconciling effort towards us. The Cross is God’s effort of reaching out to reconcile you and I to Himself.
I love the words “TO WIT” (verse 19 above). It's kind of a hard phrase to explain. Have you ever seen something amazing and then tried to tell somebody, “Did you see that?”, “that was the coolest thing I ever saw!” “How did he do that?”. Paul is asking us to look and see what Christ accomplished on the cross, to realize that God was in what was going on, on the cross of Calvary and that God had made a way for a man to be reconciled with God.
The reason Jesus Christ went to the cross was to offer us a way of being reconciled to God. This reconciliation is needed because we have all sinned, and in doing so, offended a Holy God. This reconciliation can only take place through an innocent substitutionary death and that is what Jesus Christ provided on the Cross of Calvary. He died in our place, making reconciliation possible. Most of us have someone in our life that will have nothing to do with us, we would give anything to have that relationship restored. Usually it requires that person reaching out to us, and then us accepting that "reaching out”. It is the same with God. John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:. If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your saviour, I invite you to do so now with a simple prayer. Lord Jesus, I know that I have sinned and am a sinner in your sight. I know that I need salvation and that you provided that salvation when Jesus Christ died on the cross. God forgive me and save me. I accept Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. Thank you for saving me, In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Now an amazing thing takes place after we have received Christ as our Saviour. God has left us here as his ambassadors. You know what an ambassador is? In America we have people that represent America all over the world, they are called ambassadors. They live in foreign countries on behalf of our country as representatives of America. That is what we are for God in this world, AMBASSADORS. Heaven is my home to come but we live in a strange land and here we are God's representatives, ambassadors.
Unfortunately there are ambassadors who are good representatives and there are ambassadors who are poor representatives. Paul simply declared that he wanted to be a good representative of Jesus Christ. I heard a neat phrase that makes sense to me. You are the only Bible some people will ever read.
Proper motivations can be so important in a child of God's life. Do you ever lack motivation for life? Especially in our spiritual life, it can be difficult to be motivated, to stay on track. Don’t overlook that it all starts with a salvation encounter with Christ, then keep in mind Paul's 4 motivations that kept him going.
1. Heaven is my Home!
2. A desire to live pleasing to Christ!
3. God loves me and Jesus Christ is the proof!
4. God has a purpose for my life, to represent Him!
What are you living for?
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.2 Set your affection on things above,
not on things on the earth.