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What Motivates Us?
November 11, 2023

Why do we do the things we do? Behind the action is the thought, but what leads our thoughts in the directions they go? What is it that motivates us to do what we do? What motivates us? There are many religiously minded people who look to motivational verses to get them through the rough times in life, but what motivates us in the good times of life?

When it comes to motivation, there are two broad types of motivation, extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is a motivation that is driven by external rewards. When a person works for a paycheck, that paycheck is a type of extrinsic motivation. The other broad category of motivation, intrinsic motivation is a motivation that is done because the activity itself is rewarding. Doing your best job at work without regard to the paycheck is an example of intrinsic motivation. What motivates us spiritually? Are we solely motivated by what is extrinsic, the hope of eternal life or a desire to avoid the lake of fire? Are we motivated to live according to the teachings of the Bible because living that way of life is something we have committed to?

Let’s begin by examining the motivation of Jesus. In a passage from the Book of John, it was time to eat, and the disciples asked Jesus to eat. Jesus told them that he had food to eat that they did not know, and that statement caused confusion among the disciples as they wondered who secretly brought him food. Then Jesus told them that His meat was to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work. In a basic way Jesus was sharing that He was not motivated by something external like food. His motivation was intrinsic doing what He knew He needed to do. Jesus didn’t do the will of God and finish His work in order to get something for Himself. Then Jesus added that a great spiritual harvest was there for the reaping, and that the time of that spiritual harvest was arriving.

John 4:31-38
In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

Like Jesus, Paul was motivated by that which is intrinsic. He lived for Christ knowing that the eventually of death would be a victory. Instead of living for anything to be gained in this life, Paul felt torn between this life and eternal life and committed to the people of this life to help them develop faith. With Paul’s motivation, he wasn’t motivated by what he could get, but by what he could give.

Philippians 1:21-26
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

In trying to understand what motivates us to do what is right spiritually, we can look to the teachings of Jesus to better understand what He taught. Jesus warned against bringing attention to the self when doing what is right spiritually. For instance, most of us have no problem helping a person in need or donating to a worthy cause. When all we seek is betterment of the other person or that worthy cause, there is no warning to consider from Jesus. But, when we also seek notoriety for ourself in the act of giving, we are giving for reasons of extrinsic motivation. If we give so that others think of us a good person, that is all that will spiritually come to us. If we give without any regard for any type of notoriety from our giving, then the reasons we are giving are intrinsic. We are giving because we want to give, period.

Similar to giving are acts of religious devotion, like prayer. If we offer prayers to be seen by others, we are extrinsically motivated, and reward that comes to us will be limited by the capacity of the people to offer that reward. But, when we offer prayers without any expectation of notoriety by others, then we are praying for reasons that are part of who we are, intrinsic motivation. Even how we pray can reflect whether intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is in play in our life. If we purposely choose words and focus on the length of the prayer, we are likely motivated extrinsically. Instead of long repetitive prayers, Jesus taught of the need to be more succinct and direct with prayers.

Jesus also emphasized forgiveness with prayers explaining that our forgiveness is dependent upon our forgiving others. When forgiveness is ingrained in who we are, forgiveness is an intrinsic part of who we are. If we only forgive others so that we are forgiven, forgiveness is extrinsic to who we are. Religious practices, like fasting, can be done with either intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. If we fast to be seen by others, that is extrinsic. If we use the example of Isaiah to fast to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke, fasting is being done for intrinsic purposes. If we value what is physical over what is spiritual, and link spiritual success to physical success, we are motivated by what is extrinsic, not what is intrinsic.

Matthew 6:1-21
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The covenant made with the Children of Israel when they left Egypt was a covenant based on extrinsic motivation. In Jeremiah, God writes of a new covenant where the laws of God will be written in the hearts and within. That all points towards intrinsic motivation.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

There are some who are of the faith who are afraid of God and these people tend to do what they do out of fear and wanting to avoid consequences. There are some of the faith who revere God and do what they do because of that reverence and awe. Both focus on the phrase, the fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord is defined for us in Proverbs. We can read that the fear of the Lord is to broadly hate what is evil. Proverbs goes on to explain that evil consists of pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and the froward mouth.

Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

The Hebrew word translated as fear is Strong’s Hebrew word 3374, yirah, meaning reverence. Instead of being afraid of God, we should be in awe of God. As we are in awe of God and revere Him, we will avoid what is evil, such as pride. A consequence given to the Children of Israel in Leviticus for not obeying God is having the pride of their power broken. Pride focuses on what we have done or what those who are close to us have done, and without obedience, God can remove that from any of us very quickly.

Leviticus 26:14-19
But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

Pride can bring feelings of entitlement, such as, because I have done this or that, I am able to do such and thus. Pride drives the wicked in what they do, as success after success tends to give people a sense of invincibility.

Psalm 10:1-11
Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

We cannot allow pride to motivate us in what we have done. We need to revere God and yield to what God is doing in our life and through us. Thoughts of invincibility lead to arrogancy, and God will bring arrogancy to nothing because arrogancy is all based on what we have done, not what God has done for us or through us.

Isaiah 13:9-16
Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Jeremiah wrote of the arrogancy, pride, and haughtiness of Moab. Jeremiah clearly shows of the need to leave that way behind.

Jeremiah 48:26-31
Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

Isaiah clearly pronounces a curse on those who call evil good and good evil, confusing darkness for light, and confusing light for darkness. Doing this does not come from or through God, but is the result of us focusing on what we have done and using that success to justify what we want to do.

Isaiah 5:8-23
Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Isaiah also wrote that it is our sins and evil acts that separate us from God. If we have internalized what God expects of us, sin and evil acts will be foreign to us, and like a cold or flu, when we become aware of sin and evil in our life, we feel cruddy just like the cold and flu and strive to be well again. When our life is based on what we have done, and not what God has done for us or through us, sin and evil acts are a natural result of our life.

Isaiah 59:1-8
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Evil is found within the froward mouth. Froward means perversity or fraud. Whatever is perverse or fraudulent is evil, and as God distances himself from those who are froward, so must we.

Deuteronomy 32:19-25
And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

Being motivated to be righteous, we should know what is acceptable to say and avoid saying what is evil.

Proverbs 10:29-32
The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness.

Are we motivated primarily by things like punishment and the wrath of God or are we primarily motivated by a desire to be righteous? If becoming righteous is what motivates us, then Peter tells us there are many things we need to be doing now.

2 Peter 1:5-11
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Faith is the baseline of our righteousness, but it cannot be all that we have. To faith we are to add virtue, and faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1-3
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Virtue can be thought of those things which are true, honest, just, and pure. This directly contrasts to what is froward.

Philippians 4:8-9
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

In our quest for the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, it is expected we acquire knowledge, knowledge of the faith and knowledge of what is virtuous. Knowledge of righteousness is something to be shared, not locked away.

Luke 11:45-52
Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.

Knowledge comes with a warning. We cannot arrive at knowledge and think we have attained the fullness of righteousness. Paul warned the Corinthians that knowledge can make a person arrogant, and showed that love which Peter also wrote about, transcends knowledge.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3
Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Being motivated to be righteous, we will seek the fruit of the Spirit in our life, with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. Temperance means self-control. In our quest for righteousness, we will seek to have self-control in our life.

Galatians 5:22-26
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Self-control leads to patience, and in Hebrews we are told we must run the race that is before us with patience. Being told we will need patience should clue us in that the race that is before us will need patience to finish.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Patience leads to godliness, and Paul advised Timothy of the need to work towards godliness and avoid fables which are commonly believed.

1 Timothy 4:6-10
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained. But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Godliness leads to brotherly kindness, the genuine love and concern we should have for all who are of the faith, knowing that we seek that which is righteous and eternal.

1 Peter 1:22-25
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Everything we do needs to lead to charity, or love, the kind of love that God has for all of us. Some of us are motivated by prophecy, and Paul shows prophecy is not as important as love. Love is most important of all.

1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

So what motivates us? Are we motivated by prophecy? Are we motivated by avoiding the wrath of God? Are we motivated by the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness? Is that motivation internally part of who we are, or is our motivation linked to what we see in the world around us? Motivation drives each and every one of us and for us, it is important to be motivated from within to be righteous as God is righteous as we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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