Who or what motivates you? What are the drives that power your action and behavior?
Motivation can come from society, from God, or from both. When it comes to motivating ourselves and others, an excellent book titled Drive by Daniel H. Pink describes what works and what doesn’t work in a secular world.
Even though the secular world provides some beneficial motivational tips, the best motivational tips come from God’s Word. Why? The reason is God’s Word is powerful. (Hebrews 4:12)
I visited with one person I know who is always in God’s Word and who is always motivated. I asked him what his secrets are to remain motivated. Specifically, what action steps he takes each day that we too can take in order to stay motivated.
He started by saying because we have Christ’s power in us (Ephesians 1:19), he begins each morning by asking the Holy Spirit to give him the power to stay motivated throughout the day. (Zachariah 4:6)(Acts 1:8)(Ephesians 3:20)
Also, soon after he started working, he decided to get a new boss. And his new boss is Jesus. Each day, he bases his internal desire and commitment to excellence on who he works for. He told me that whatever he does, he does with enthusiasm as if he was working for Jesus and not for people. (Colossians 3:23)(Ephesians 6:7)
Therefore, every morning he reminds himself that Jesus is his boss. As a result, he stays motivated as Jesus provides him with wisdom (James 1:5), insight and guidance (Proverbs 3:5,6), and stability. (Psalm 16:8,9) Also, Jesus provides a strength that is over and above what he can generate on his own. (Isaiah 41:10)
He prays throughout the day (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and focuses on God’s Word that includes God’s blessings and promises. (Read my March 2020 blog and my April 2020 blog located at equipyourfamily.com).
Here are four additional items that continually motivate him, and can motivate us, too:
- Providing for his family (1Timothy 5:8) and desiring to leave a positive, significant legacy.
- Believing something positive is going to happen during the day. (Romans 8:28)
- Providing a service or something else that helps someone or makes a positive difference in someone else’s life. (Ephesians 2:10)
- Hearing God say, well done good and faithful servant, enter into my joy. (Matthew 25:23)