Motive

Motivation comes from the word motive and motive means.
: something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.

'For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am under compulsion; for woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. '
1 Corinthians 9:16

'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. '
Ephesians 2:10

'looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. '
Hebrews 12:2

Motivation

We often hear follow your passions, but the truth is, for most of us, a passion has a short life span. However, our motives or motivations are the ones that will see us through and lead us to the completion.

In Numbers 14:33, The Lord says to the Israelites that they will spend forty years in the wilderness, one year for each day the unfaithful spies were spying out the land.

Moses spent forty years leading the Israelites in the wilderness. Was it passion that kept him going? What kept him going was the need to fulfill God’s calling on his life. God motivated Moses to bring them to the promised land.

God had given Moses a task, and Moses was committed to seeing it through. He may have been the only one who didn’t say we should return to Egypt. His dream never faded, and he never once thought that they were not going to make it. Two things motivated him: first, God gave him a mission, and second, he was totally committed to seeing the call through.

Jesus at Gethsemane was not passionate about what was about to occur. So why did He go along with it? Because He was determined to bring salvation to the world.  His motivation was not based on passion. It was based on His understanding of His call. Jesus was motivated by “the joy set before Him”.

'Looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. '

Hebrews 12:2

Jesus's motive for coming as a man was to save humanity. His motive was never encased in passion; it was encased with purpose. Jesus was motivated by the knowledge of knowing that his sacrifice would provide salvation to all who wanted it.

The apostles traveled throughout the world to share the gospel. Do you think it was passion that kept them warm on cold nights? Do you think it was a passion that filled their hearts when things did not go as expected?

They understood and were sold out, motivated to share the gospel worldwide. The expectation of the gospel's promise fueled their efforts to share it. They were motivated by the expected and promised outcome.

What motivated Esther to talk to the King when she knew it could have been her death sentence? She was motivated by the need to save her people. She clearly understood that she needed to act to save her people.

Many, if not all, of the people in the Bible work with the motivation of improving life. That is what woke them up in the morning, and it is what must make you get up every morning.

What gets you up in the morning 

This is a crucial question for you and me: What makes me get up in the morning? Do you get up every morning with the thought that you have 8 hours until you are free, or do you get up every morning asking how can I participate in the great commission?  

As Christians, we need to get up every morning asking how can I bring the kingdom of God closer to reality today. We should be waking up every day with the first goal being How can I serve the Lord, today? Our motives must pass the test. What test? How can I use the gifts God has given me in writing, sewing, singing, painting, or any profession to bring people to Christ?

Our motivation should be to love the Lord your God.

'“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. '
Matthew 22:36-38

What motivates you. 

That is not just the great commandment. It is the motive of our lives. We are to love each other with all our hearts.

Many people live cheated lives because they are never motivated to live. They are prepared to live unmotivated lives. You must look inside and ask yourself what motivates me. What makes me move to conquer and excel in this life? You are responsible for what motivates you.

If you live a life without knowing what motivates you, you will be motivated to help others accomplish what they are motivated to accomplish.

'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. '

Ephesians 2:10

This is a wonderful verse. It says God has preordained good works for us to accomplish in our lives. We are His workmanship, so we can walk in these good works. It is such a motivating and inspiring verse.

We should be reassured that we have great things to do for the Lord, but many of us end up wondering what good stuff have we done?  What have I done that can be considered good?

The Lord has prepared good stuff for you, but are you motivated to do it, or are you motivated to sit in front of the TV and trade the TV for the good God has for you? Or are you trading anything for the good God has for you?

You must be out there in the real world doing real things to see the path God has already laid out for you. The really sad part about not doing what the Lord has laid out for you is that it will never get done. It means that you have denied yourself the wealth of blessings, experiences, and victories that God had already prepared for you. It doesn’t mean that the will of the Lord will be thwarted because God's will is unstoppable. However, all of the wonderful things you want for your life are tied up in the “good works, which God prepared beforehand”.

Replenish 

Do you know what motivates you, what makes you get up in the morning? Do you know how to return to the source of your motivation and replenish yourself when you need it? You see, you can always return to your sources of motivation and refill yourself to keep going. The thing about a motive is that you can easily return to it and get refreshed.  Motivation is in doing, not in dreaming.

You are motivated when you do something and realize, yes, this is good. Then you can go back and look at it and say yes, it was good, but I can do better. You can look back and say I overcame that challenge; I can overcome this challenge. Or, most of all, motivation is when you can say look there, it was God working through me that brought that about. And you know and are grateful and humbled to know that God has allowed you to be part of His action. That the Spirit of God has used you to accomplish a task.

With every victory, you can be motivated to try something new. You can push further because you realize you have more to give. I can help more, I can reach more, I can live more.

In your life, what motivates you? What is it that drives you? If your motivation comes from someone else, what happens when that person can no longer motivate you? Will you succumb to mediocrity?

God does not live in mediocrity. He is on the front edge of all of life, and we need to run to be with Him there.