Guest speaker Yan Hadley brought a challenging message on ‘maintaining your motivation’ last night, looking at Col 3:23 which reminds us of the need to work at everything we do with all our hearts. ‘Candyfloss Christianity’, which, like the seaside treat, lacks substance, means that at times when put to the test, our testimony disappears; what we need is the substance that comes from ongoing intimacy with God.
Defining Motivation
Motivation is the thing that moves us to fulfil our goals, governing how we use our time, talents and opportunities. Rom 12:11 reminds us to never be lacking in zeal but instead keep our spiritual fervour. We want to be the kind of people who make a difference to our churches and our world, not those who simply passively watch things happen or who question in bewilderment ‘What happened?!’ We need to be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in grace (see 1 Cor 15:58), able to persevere through trials and difficulties (as William Wilberforce did when working to abolish slavery.) Heb 2:1, Gal 5:1 and Rev 2:4 all warn of the dangers of losing our motivation. We need to be like the postage stamp, which sticks to one thing until it gets where it’s going!
Caleb is an example of someone who kept going to the end, being of a different spirit to the other ten spies who only saw difficulties and who lacked faith. His attitude focussed on God, not on the situation, and his strength and vigour remained strong at eighty-five! (see Josh 14:11). Paul is another example of joyful perseverance (see 2 Cor 11:23-29 for a list of the trials he faced) and, of course, Jesus is the one on whom we should fix our eyes for He shows us how to endure opposition by keeping the long-term goal in front of Him (see Heb 12:1-3).