Sunday: Motivated by Love
Have you ever wondered why often it seems difficult to motivate people to long-term commitments in church projects? Perhaps the answer can be found as we think of some other situations where a very high degree of motivation and commitment are evident. What is it that motivates a parent to donate one of their kidneys to save the life of his or her child? Why do moms and dads spend a small fortune to provide the best possible education for their children? Are these things done because the parents would feel guilty if they didn’t? Do they think that they owe their children these things? Of course not.
Image © Krieg Barrie from GoodSalt.com
While parents do have a sense of responsibility for the welfare of their children, love is surely the major motivating force. They do what they do because they love. We cannot spell this out enough times: we do things for God because we love Him and because we know He loves us.
Read 1 John 4:18-19. What do these texts mean? Write out their meaning in your own words.
Our love for God must be rooted in His love for us. God existed before we did and He has loved us supremely from the creation of humankind. Love can come only as a result of, and in response to, love. Obedience to the great gospel commission for any other reason than that we love is all but fruitless. This is why spiritual preparation is vital as we seek to become involved in witnessing and evangelism.
Our love for God, and our willingness to work with Him in the saving of souls, is dependent upon our knowing Him. It is not usual that we love people whom we don’t know. Therefore, it is vital that to obey God out of love, we must know Him personally.
What do the following texts reveal about love for God and the motivation to obey Him and work for Him? Josh. 22:5, Luke 7:41–43, John 14:23, 2 Cor. 5:12–18.
Love and obedience are inseparable as long as they occur in that order. True love for God will always result in obedience to His revealed will, but obedience will not necessarily lead to love (although it can). If we want people to work for Jesus, we must help them create a loving connection with Him.
How much does your love for God motivate what you do? Does it motivate you at all? What does your answer say about your relationship with Him and what needs to change?
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There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:18,19
Fear is a big hindrance to sharing the love of God. As this verse says, it makes our love for God imperfect.
As Paul states, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes." (Romans 1:16)
We deny God's power when we fear to love each other.
Our love for God, and our willingness to work with Him in the saving of souls, is dependent upon our knowing Him. It is not usual that we love people whom we don’t know.
Love is an essential tool in a christian's life. Love of God is never an emotional type of love. It's love in action. And one of the acts that proves our love for God is, "when we talk about who God is, to people that dont really know Him" withnessing and evangelism is love in action, since it involves giving "salvation" .
As proverb 28:1 says, the one who fears God are strong as lion. Meaning that, when we love jesus, nothing can lead us to fear so that we can make evangelism without any fear.
How do/or can one love God?
Before we can really love God, we need to get to know Him - who He is and what He has done for us. We begin to get to know Him by reading His Word to us in the Bible. I recommend starting with the gospels.
Since love is a relationship, it needs to be expressed, and the way we express our love to God is by thanking Him and doing what we know He wants us to do. 🙂