Today, we’re going to be talking about Jesus Your Motivation as we finish our message series from the book of Colossians. People have all kinds of motivations for the things they do and the things they say. Some people are motivated by greed, power, or pride. Others are motivated by wanting to do their best, to help others or to accomplish something important in life. Motives are often hard to discern. When a crime is committed, the detectives attempt to discern the motive of the criminal. The crime is obvious, but why did he do it? What was the motive? One person may do something good for someone and a second person could do the exact same thing, but they could have radically different motives. God’s Word says that motives are important.
Proverbs 16:2 (NIV) All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.
People think their actions are right and good, but that’s just the visible. The Lord looks into the heart and weighs the motives for the action or the words. Motives can be good or bad. A “good” action done for a bad motive is not really good, is it?
1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV) Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
On judgment God will expose the motives of everyone’s heart. Some people who seemed to have great success in life, in business or even in the church will be exposed as phonies, because their motives were corrupt. What should be our motivation in life? Let’s look again at the final verse we talked about last Sunday.
Colossians 3:17 (NIV) And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
I see two interrelated motives commanded by God in this verse. Everything you do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. In other words, our motivation should be primarily to please and obey our Lord, Jesus Christ. That should be our primary motive in life. Secondarily, our motive should be to live in such a way that we give thanks to God. What are your motives in life?
I recently read a story about Commander Joe Rochefort who was an intelligence officer during WWII. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Joe worked tirelessly to break the Japanese communication codes and finally succeeded. Joe was able to tell his superiors that the Japanese would attack Midway on June 3. Because of this intelligence, the American Navy surprised the Japanese at Midway and won the battle, a critical defeat for Japan. Joe Rochefort never received credit for his efforts as others falsified the records and claimed credit for themselves. Recently, sealed records were opened and Joe’s accomplishments were finally recognized. Joe kept a note on his desk which said “We can accomplish anything providing no one cares who gets the credit.” Joe’s motives were not about the credit he would receive, but he simply wanted to serve his country.
In the same way, our motive in life should not be to receive the thanks or praise of people for what we do. Our motive should be to please the one who died for us, Jesus Christ. In our message today, Jesus Your Motivation, we’re going to look at 3 areas of life that we can serve Jesus in.