Motives

Introduction

Many times we have to take a step back and check our motives on why we do different things. Why do we play sports? Why are we working the job we have? Why do we like the sports teams we do? Why do we play an instrument? Why do we sing in worship? WHY DO WE FOLLOW JESUS AND DO WHAT HE SAYS? Is it because we just want to do the right thing only because Jesus says so? Is it because we want to look like the good Christian person in front of everyone? What is our motive? What should be our motive? Paul examines and gives us 4 reasons why we should live our lives for the glory of God in Christ. Its not about behavior modification but heart transformation.

God’s Grace to you (12-14)

God Chose you

God Chose you before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) and He chose you for a purpose and that is to enjoy Him and glorify Him in all that you do because of the love of Christ that you have experienced.

A great passage to understand the meaning of salvation by grace is in Deuteronomy 7:7-8 when God is talking through Moses to the Israelites He says “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you…and the Lord brought you out [of Egypt] with a mighty hand.”

God Chose you and He wants you. God didn’t choose you based off of your performance but based off of His amazing grace. God’s choosing is a mystery to us and it is by His will and by His purposes that He chooses and that’s not our job to discern who God is going to save and who he isnt going to save. So, our responsibility is to share the gospel with everyone as much as we can to seek and see the lost saved.

God Set you apart

That’s what the word holy means is set apart. God has chosen you and plucked you out of your sin and set you apart for a purpose and a calling to serve Him in whatever way He has gifted you. We are no longer our own but we completely belong to Him. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Just as a hammer is set aside for a certain purpose you were set aside for a certain purpose. God wants to use you as He makes you holy to proclaim His name among men.

God Loves you

The fact that God chose you and set you apart from your sin is testament that He has an overwhelming love for you that while you were yet a sinner and while you were an enemy of God He sought you out and gave you a new heart and saved you from your wickedness and brokenness and raised you with Christ. That is love. 1 John 4:9-11 says “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his SOn as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

God Forgives you

Colossians 2:13-14 “And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Something that we should always remind ourselves of when we think of God’s grace and His forgiveness of our sins. WE DID NOT DESERVE IT. We deserved the complete opposite but God being so gracious, so compassionate, so kind, so longsuffering, so forbearing, and so loving chose to forgive us through the death on the cross of His Son Jesus Christ.

Compassion

As believers we need to display tender feelings of compassion towards one another. This isn’t something you turn on and off when you want to like a TV or spotify on your phone. Compassion stays with us. It is a character trait that we should have towards others that are low or messed up, or hurting. If you don’t have compassion or empathy on others in your heart it makes you really difficult to live with.

Kindness

The kindness that was displayed to us through Jesus Christ should be displayed through us to others (Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another.”)

One awesome picture of kindness is King David to Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. David could have treated him like the ex royal family and condemned him even as a crippled man, but David showed kindness and love to him and brought him into his own house, his own family, and allowed him to be part of the royal family sitting at the bountiful king’s table. THAT IS A PICTURE OF KINDNESS RIGHT THERE. (2 Samuel 9)

Humbleness of Mind

Most people see humility as a weak trait and look down upon it while applauding pride and domination. Jesus represented humility of mind. Humility isn’t thinking poorly of oneself, but it is having a proper understanding of oneself in the will of God (Romans 12:3) A humble person thinks of others before he thinks of himself.

Meekness

Meakness is not weakness. it is power under control. It is like a soothing wind, a healing medicine, a stallion that’s been broken. In each of these things there is power; a wind can become a storm, too much medicine can kill, a horse can break loose. but they are all power under control. The meek person doesn’t have to fly off the handle because he has everything under control.

Longsuffering

Long-tempered. The short tempered person speaks and acts impulsively and lacks self-control. but the person who is long suffering puts up with provoking people without retaliating.

Forbearance

God is forbearing toward sinners that He holds back His judgment. We should do the same. Meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance all go together to make a self controlled but powerful person of God.

Forgiveness

This is the result of all of the examples Paul has mentioned so far. Because we display all of these others we forgive others, and if we have all of these other things but do not forgive we are failing just the same as if we had none of them. Because without forgiveness our ill feelings turn into malice and festers in the heart that ends up leading to greater sins.

Love

Ultimately love is the most important virtue to have. It acts as the glue that holds all of these others together. All spiritual qualities are aspects of true Christian love. Love is the first fruit of the Spirit and the other virtues or characteristics will follow. When we allow love to rule in our lives it unites all of these other spiritual characteristics and shines the light of Christ for all to see and experience.

TRANSITION: Character to Conduct

The Peace of Christ (15)

When you are doing the will of God you have the Peace of Christ with you. The peace of Christ is like the umpire in our believing hearts and our churches. When we obey the will of God, we have His peace within, but when we step out of His will we lose that peace until we repent.

A great example of this is Jonah. He deliberately disobeyed God, and it ended up making a storm in his life. We must pray and surrender to God’s will in our lives and seek His guidance in the Scriptures.

When we lose the peace of Christ we must confess our sin, claim God’s forgiveness, and do God’s will. Not because we do it begrudgingly but because we love God and we seek to do what is right in His eyes because we have been given a new heart. This is not about behavior modification but heart and life transformation.

The Word of Christ (16)

When you have experienced the grace of God through salvation in Jesus Christ, when you have the peace of Christ through fulfilling God’s will in your life, you will desire for the Word of Christ to transform your life as it dwells richly inside of you.

To dwell means “to feel at home”. We want to discover how rich the Word is with spiritual treasure that gives value to our lives. We all want purpose and meaning and value in our lives and we all want our lives to mean something when we die. We want a legacy to be left when we leave this earth. That legacy only counts if we live it for Christ. We may be one of the most remembered people in history but it would all be in vain if it never resulted in life change for Jesus.

The Name of Christ (17)

All that we do should be associated with the name of Christ because we have been identified with Him not only in His death, in His life, but also in His name. It is a great privelege to be named a Christian but it also comes with a great responsibility. We conduct our lives in a way that glorifies Him because we love Him. Not because we NEED to, not because we HAVE to, but because we WANT to. It isn’t about a checklist we have to fulfill every day like chores. Have yall ever had to do chores? Chores are just about the most begrudging thing. Our obedience as Christians to God isn’t a chore its a life giving experience.

We have identification with His name and we have the authority of his name. When we are identified with Christ and His name we have an authority under His name to turn away from sin, speak life into other people with the truth of Scripture, we can live a life full of love, forgiveness, meekness, etc.