Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts |
Google Podcasts |
Spotify |
RSS
| Getting Motivated series |
*
What’s Our Motivation?
*
What if I’m Not the Best?
*
What If I Don’t Succeed? (Fear of Failure)
*
How Does God Define Success?
The good news of the gospel is that our righteousness, our position with God, our spot in heaven is not based on what we’ve done. On the cross, Christ gave us all this
and more when He gave us His relationship with the father as a free gift (check out our post
Peace with God). In many ways, this is what makes Christianity so unique: we don’t get ourselves to heaven. But, if we’re totally honest, this encouraging truth can sometimes make it hard to be motivated.
I mean, if what Isaiah said was really true and
“all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment” (Isaiah 64:6), then why go through the trouble of doing what’s right? If we’re already saved and we can’t add to our righteousness, it can be hard to get motivated to endure the self-sacrifice of, for example, living generously.
So, What’s in It for Me?
Now this is one of those thoughts we aren’t supposed to have, one of those questions we aren’t supposed to acknowledge crossed our mind. Maybe you’ve found a better (less selfish, more “Christian”) way to word it, but when I’m struggling to find motivation, somewhere in the back of my mind I’m asking, “Why should I go through all this trouble?”. As terrible as it sounds, I’m kind of asking, “What’s in this for me?”
It can be tempting to feel like this isn’t a Christian thought. We sometimes imagine Christianity is about taking what we want out of the equation. It might surprise you to hear that this idea of “emptying ourselves of desire” is actually Buddhist, not Christian. Consider just this small sample of verses:
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.Psalms 37:4
May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!Psalms 20:4
How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! 
