Motivation

JULIUS ERVING made history in the NBA. Erving was interviewed on numerous occasions, and on one of those he stated, "Above all play clean. What you do physically or technically is not as important as what you have in your heart." These are very wise words.

We all want to win the prize, come what may; many times it could even be at the cost of cheating a little. We would like to be better than we really are, but without making the extra effort. We would also like to be mature men and women, who behave in a spiritual manner, bearing fruit in abundance and knowing how to triumph in every difficult situation. However, when we consider how to achieve this, there are basic rules that are not so appealing to us. Perhaps it is because we think that reading the Bible, praying, evangelising, serving and helping others etc. all seem rather boring. But we cannot take the prize if we do not compete according to the rules.

We cannot compete according to the rules if our heart is not in it. What is the motivation of our life? Why do we do what we do? Why do we study, work or practise sport? What is our reason for reading the Bible, for serving others or working in the church? There exists a serious danger of doing things, even spiritual things, for self-centered reasons (cf. Matthew 5-7). Many times we pray, witness or assist in the church only to be seen and admired by others. When people speak well of us, and all goes well, we are content; but when difficult times come, and we receive criticism instead of admiration... the preacher does not want to preach any more, and the singer does not want to continue in song! The cry goes out; 'No-one appreciates me!' And so then, do you do things only in order to receive praise?

We all run the serious risk of falling into self-centered motivation. We want people to admire us; we appreciate it when people look up to us! And God says that this attitude is of the world and the Devil. Our only motivation should be to seek to give God the glory: he is the only one who deserves it. So then we should not have the problem of whether others appreciate us or not. If we don't seek to glorify God as our main priority in life, it's because our hearts are not pure, and what is there will end up destroying us.