Articles
Motivated
What moves you? What motivates you? Each individual comes from a different background and has different experiences and influences, so our motivations will likewise be different for what we do. But even when we have a class or group of people from different backgrounds and influences, there can be a common motivator if they have a common belief. Such should be the case with all disciples.
Disciples of Jesus Christ are united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ and Son of God (John 20:30, 31), that He was raised from the dead (Rom. 10:9), and that through Him we have forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43) and the hope of eternal life in heaven (1 John 2:25). These things should motivate us, but do they? Why should they?
Motivated By Jesus as the Christ. Students of the Bible will know that the Old Testament is filled with prophecies of the coming Messiah, or Christ; some sources say there are over 300 prophecies regarding the Christ. The odds of anyone fulfilling those 300+ prophecies by chance is so infinitesimally small that it is next to impossible. Factor in the prophecy that He was to be born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14), and we understand that only One man could be the Christ.
If we believe that He is the Christ, we will be motivated to then obey Him. What purpose would there be in believing He is the Christ but going no farther? If we believe He is the Christ and Son of God, we must believe everything that comes with that acknowledgment: He is the only Savior (John 14:6), He has all authority (Matt. 28:18), He is the head of the church (Col. 1:18), and His word is what will judge us in the end (John 12:47, 48). If we believe these things, then we will not hesitate to obey His words and commands — even when they contradict what we already believe or what we have been taught all our lives.
Believing in Jesus means trusting in Jesus that His words are true. When He said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16), we trust that what He said is true, and we will be motivated to obey without argument. If we hesitate, or if we argue against those words, we cannot honestly say we believe in Him. But believing Him means we will be motivated to willingly obey any and every command He has given — no matter how hard we might think it is to keep, or how much we may think there is some other way. Does the truth of Jesus being the Christ and son of God motivate you to obey Him?
Motivated By His Resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is, in some senses, just as important as the crucifixion. Without His resurrection, Jesus would have failed to fulfill the prophecies that spoke of it; He would not have been the Christ, after all. Without His resurrection, we would not have a living Savior who lives in heaven and “lives to make intercession for” us (Heb. 7:25). Without His resurrection, we would have no hope of a resurrection in the end (cf. 1 Cor. 15:20-23).
That hope of a resurrection in the end was promised by Jesus when He told some who questioned Him and His claims, “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:26-29). His resurrection gives us hope of a resurrection, and motivates us to live for the eternal reward, instead of for earthly, material pursuits. Does His resurrection motivate you to live for Him and look forward to the resurrection?
Motivated By Forgiveness. The forgiveness made possible by the death of our Savior should be a powerful motivating factor for how we live, and there are two main ways this should motivate us:
Motivated to live a life of holiness. As disciples who have benefitted from the blood of our Savior, we know well the price that was paid for our sins, and that price paid motivates us to “put off, concerning [our] former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24). We know the sacrifices that were made for us — leaving heaven, leaving behind the glory and honor due Him, and literally laying His life on the line for us — and we do not want to dishonor those sacrifices by returning to the old ways of the world we once followed (Eph. 2:1-3). Are you motivated by God's forgiveness to no longer live for self, but for Him?
Motivated to forgive others. Jesus once told a parable of a servant who was brought before his master to settle his account, but owed the master more than he could repay in several lifetimes (cf. Matt. 18:21-35). When the servant begged the master to give him time [an absurd request], the master showed compassion [i.e., mercy] and forgave the servant his debt. When this same servant found another servant who owed him money, he choked him and demanded he pay, but when the other servant begged for time to repay, the first servant would not grant him time or forgiveness and had him thrown in prison. When the master heard of it, he called the first servant back and angrily said, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” The master then threw the first servant into prison.
The point of the parable is that we who have been forgiven such a great debt as our sins should be just as forgiving to others as God was to us. In fact, Paul exhorted us to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave” us (Eph. 4:32). Are you motivated to forgive others in the same way God forgave you?
Motivated by the Hope of Eternal Life in Heaven. John said it very plainly: “And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life” (1 John 2:25). The hope of eternal life in heaven is one of the disciple's greatest promises that, in turn, was made possible by the blood of Christ, that brought us forgiveness. That promise of God gives us hope that we will one day live with Him in heaven for all eternity, and that should motivate us to live the kind of life that is pleasing to Him. It is the hope of eternal life that moved Paul to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith (cf. 2 Tim. 4:7, 8). It should be what motivates us to do the same, knowing there will be no reward if we do not remain faithful (cf. Heb. 10:36).
If the hope of eternal life in heaven is our motivation, we will set our minds “on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:2), and we will not be trying to make earth our home, but “desire a better, that is, a heavenly country” (Heb. 11:16). We will not allow any earthly troubles to hinder us or dissuade us from pressing on to higher things, but will fix our eyes on Jesus as our example to follow that we may end up where He is (Heb. 12:2).
What motivates you to live as you now live? If you are not yet a disciple, maybe these things will convince you to begin serving Christ; and if you are already a disciple, maybe you will be even more motivated to serve and please the Lord! —— Steven Harper
