October 26, 2008

Motivated Spirituality

Last Sunday we started on the topic of Motivated Spirituality. We discussed the different motivators that effect a believer in our decision making process; why we do the things that we do.

We discussed that there were two different types of motivators; vertical and horizontal motivators.

We discussed that the vertical motivators were worldly or temporary concerns… such motivators like:

- Fear of loss can motivate you

- Guilt can motivate you

- Pride can motivate you

- Hope of personal gain can motivate you

- Reputation can motivate you

- Prestige can motivate you

- Pleasure can motivate you

All of these temporary motivators can cause you to make a decision that is outside of the will of God. All of us have issues with one or all of these vertical motivators.

John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.

If you find yourself struggling with any of these issues then the problem is you are having trouble decreasing and allowing Him to take full control of your life.

You see when we are motivated by these motivator we somehow believe that we can resolve our issues or that we can do something that will make us look good.

Galatians 2:20
(20) I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf.

I gave you a list of the Horizontal Motivators. These motivators are of a biblical response to situations and/or how we handle different issues and circumstances. The horizontal motivators are:

- No other options

- Fear

- Love and gratitude

- Rewards

- Our identity in Christ

- Purpose and hope

- Longing for God

I covered No other options and Fear last Sunday.

In a nutshell we talked about No Other Options as a motivator as when we realize that He is our provider… He is all we need. We don’t have any other options, we are inadequate to understand what is best for our lives therefore we rely on Him.

We talked about how Fear can be both a positive and a negative motivator. Fear of consequences is the negative… fear of God is the positive.

This morning briefly I would like to discuss the third motivator which is Love and Gratitude.

Let’s talk about love as a spiritual motivator first.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world!!

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.

Sin separated us from God but God loved us so much He made a way for us to be redeemed back to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. That is real love!

But how is this supposed to motivate us. Again… we get our answers from scripture.

1 John 4:19 says “we love, because He first loved us”.

We can have the ability to love because He first loved us!

Now that we have the ability to love let me go to these verse.

John 14:15
"If you love me, keep my commandments".

Jesus said, “If you love me then keep my commandments”. That is a sign of loving Jesus when you keep His commandments. That is a sign, your fruits (your attitude and actions) show that you are abiding in Christ and He in you.

When we dwell in His unmerited love, we begin to see that his commandments are not burdensome but liberating.

As we grow in our spiritual journey… and if you are a Christian you need to be growing… the love of Christ will begin to control your life more and more. 1 Corinthians 5:14

You will find that because you love Christ so much that you will not make decision without consulting Him first.

The more you love Christ the more you will obey Him… why because you love Him. In Him you have everything you need. When He is the center of your life then you are on your way to being motivated by His love.

You say Dwayne… how can I know if I’m headed in the right direction in my walk with Christ? You can ask yourself a few questions.

1. Do you love God more for Himself than for His gifts and benefits?

2. Are you motivated to seek His glory and honor more than you are to seek your own?

These are questions that need to be asked often by every one of us. If you can not say yes to these questions please don’t feel defeated because you can ask yourself a third question.

3. Do you want your answer to be yes?

Now… you may not be able to honestly say yes to the first two but do you want to be at that level spiritually where you can say that you love God more than His gifts or benefits… you seek His glory more than your own.

But there is a fourth question that must be asked as well.

4. Are you willing to pay the price?

“If you love me you will keep my commandments… he who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who love me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him”.

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him”.

These are words that Jesus spoke about love and commitment.

Kenneth Boa said:
“The cost of obedience will take many forms, but if we commit ourselves to loving Jesus he will give us the needed grace”.

I also want to talk to you about another study series we can do after this one.
Our Awesome Lord – it has a teacher’s book and student’s book. It is more of a study and it will be something for you to study and learn from as well. You can look through your work books and do the exercises and we can have a lesson and discussion the following Sunday.

That is how you grow… by reading and studying the Word!