What Motivates You?

But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. (John 14:31)

Today’s blog post is contributed by David Trotta:

What motivates you to follow your heavenly Father and do as He commands?  What motivates you to serve others and give sacrificially of your time, talents, and resources?

This past week, our pastor gave us 4 emotions that motivate us – Fear, obligation, passion, and love.

We often do things out of fear.  We are afraid of punishment or negative consequences if we don’t do what we’re supposed to.  Or we do things because we feel obligated.  I think we can all agree that both of those emotions are not healthy motivators.

We can also be motivated to act because we feel passionate about something, but even passion can be rooted in selfishness because when we peel back the layers we are still acting based on what pleases us.

But love on the other hand motivates us to act to please someone else, not ourselves. 

When it comes to your relationship with the Lord, what is the primary motivation that causes you to act?  All the motivators we mentioned can produce the same results, but which do you think pleases Him the most?

As a father, nothing blesses me more than when one of my children does something for me out of love and not because they feel obligated.  Sure, the task gets done either way, but when motivated by love, I feel cherished and valued.

Jesus always did exactly as the Lord commanded because He loved His Father and He wanted the world to know it.

 What does the world see as your motivation for obeying your heavenly Father?  Do they see a rigid, robotic response based on fear or a sense of duty, or do they see someone who is in love with God and will do anything to please Him?