Is it to compete with your neighbor and go further than they have? Is it to prove to the naysayers that they are indeed just naysayers? I’ve found that there is a perversion of motivation that as believers, we need to guard ourselves against. That is the motivation to do things for the wrong reason.
Many are holding ideas of doing big things and establishing a name for themselves, and that’s all good when we are in our lane getting what God ordained for us and doing what God ordained for us.
It is my prayer the motivation for myself would be to maintain the mindset of doing what I do out of obedience for the Lord and for the glory of the Lord. I believe that when this is the motivation that we are unstoppable. One, because God will be behind us, and if God is for us nothing and no one can stand against us.
Two, we will stay connected to God in an undistracted way and be in a position to receive and heed his wisdom as he directs us through the path he has ordained for us. Yes, that is correct, each person has a path that includes their very own individual purpose just like the prophet Jeremiah had a path preordained for him to be a prophet to the nation. It’s only when we allow ourselves to be distracted, that we lose sight of that path and allow a perversion of what God has called us to do.
Please, don’t fall into the trap of doing things for the wrong reason. Please, don’t fall into the trap of doing things for social media likes, sales alone, the admiration of man, or to keep up with your neighbors, when God has given you your own path to walk for his glory.
If you have to get off of social media, or unfollow people, do what you have to do to maintain the integrity of doing what you are called to do for the right reason. The Bible discusses three manifestations of the spirit of the world. They are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which the scripture goes on to say that these things are not from the Father in heaven, but from this world (1 John 2:16).
Some will disagree with me, but I believe that some of the women empowerment ideas that are held to are manifestations of the pride of life. An example of such an idea is, “Bougie.” Bougie people live outside of their means to appear to be in a class that they are not.
Bougie people normally aren’t secure in their identity in Christ, and thus use status to cover that up. Many single women are finding identity in their accomplishments alone, and not in their identity in Christ.
While there is nothing wrong with aspiring to be in an upper class, to boast in these things, I feel is wrong and leads to vanity.
It is a dangerous thing to gather our worth from what we have accomplished. Yes, there is a general respect that comes with accomplishments, but I feel that our culture has gone into prideful boasting about its accomplishments. The Bible warns against vain boasting sharing what we should boast in if we are to boast and that is in the Lord.
But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight, declares the Lord. – Jeremiah 9:24
When we boast in ourselves, we take the attention off of Jesus, and the work that God is doing in our lives, and we place it on ourselves. Those who get caught up in trying to keep up an image of perfection, flawlessness, and always winning do not usually fail well. Failure in many aspects is a normal part of life. Without failure at something, many solutions would not have been discovered.
Humility plays an important role in keeping our motivation in check. There was a dispute between the followers of John and the followers of Jesus. The followers of John were sharing with John the Baptiste that Jesus was also baptizing and many of John’s followers were going over to follow Jesus and leaving off following John.
John the Baptiste was cool with that because he understood his calling. His calling was to be a forerunner for Christ. He responded to his disciples by saying the below:
When we have the right perspective of ourselves, and our purpose within God’s plan, we will more easily walk at a steady pace where we are sensitive to what God wants above what people want.
People are fickle. They often rally behind what appears will succeed. They may even go as far as to ignore, not take seriously, or put down what looks unique and unsuccessful. That’s why pleasing people cannot be our motivation, but pleasing God should be.
But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them because he knew human nature. John 2:24
Even Jesus, being aware of the nature of man, did not entrust his value, identity, or worth over to a man. We are to do the same allowing God to be our motivation.
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