Every one of us is a little dysfunctional. For some of us life sucks. Many are struggling with deep, dark, demons like depression, anxiety, anger, alcoholism, addiction, gossip, bitterness, lust, or resentment.
We all have some character flaw we inherited from our parents, some bad habit we picked up somewhere in the past, some unhealthy defense mechanism we default to, some faulty belief that is deceiving and degrading us, or some terrible sin we’ve become addicted to which we just can’t shake.
For example, In 2011, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that antidepressant use in the United States has increased nearly 400% in the last two decades. By 2008, 23% of women ages 40–59 years were taking antidepressants.[i]
We are in serious trouble. I feel the turmoil, confusion, and pain of the people I associate with. It touches my heart to see their struggles. We want to be better. We want to be free from our sins. It’s just that we’ve tried and failed so often that we have begun to wonder whether or not there is any hope. I love this little saying I ran across this week: “You can’t keep dancing with the Devil, and then wonder why you are still in hell!”
Whatever your regret, Christ has the answer. You’ve tried but you can’t, but with Jesus, you can. That’s why I’m preaching this series of messages. That’s why Jesus died! He came to free you from your sins. I’m going to take you through a series of steps, which, if you follow them faithfully and sincerely, Jesus will faithfully deliver you.
The very first thing you must do is to do an examination of yourself to determine why you want to change. At first it may seem like a no brainer. After all, you’re broken and you want to be fixed. You are hurt, and you want to be healed. What more, besides that, do you need to know?
For the answer to that, let’s look at the success rate of New Year’s Resolutions. Is anyone in here still keeping their new year’s resolution? It turns out that about 40% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions.[ii] According to U.S. News, 80% of resolutions fail by the second week of February.[iii] That number eventually increases to over a 90% failure rate. The University of Scranton researchers suggest that only 8% of the people actually achieve their goals.[iv]
Why is that? It turns out that motivation is critical! Most people fail because they fail to maintain their motivation for a long period of time. Your motivation will have an exacting, direct impact on your success. In your booklet on page 6, there is a list of motivations. Look it over and check all motivations that apply.
I want to overcome my sin because:
- I am embarrassed or ashamed of how I act.
- I don’t want to feel this way anymore.
- I want to stop hurting myself and / or others.
- I want to be successful.
- I want to be a better mother / father / husband / wife etc.
- I don’t believe Christians should act this way.
- I want to live a holy and pure life.
- I want to please / glorify God
While some of these may be good motivations, and while we may be motivated by several of them, the reality is that there is one motivation that outshines them all. There is one motivation, that without it, you might as well join a self help group or go to a secular psychologist, because without this essential value in place you can’t honestly ever expect to fix yourself. What is that motivation? Let’s find out.
Today I am going to lead you through three powerful motivations, and show you how you can put them to work for you in changing your life. Here is the first one.
The Motivation of Fear
9 Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. 11 Knowing, therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences.
There is much we could discuss here, but I want to focus on one statement, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ… 11 Knowing, therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.”
Fear is a great motivator. We have a tendency to dismiss fear as a weakness, but it’s not that simple. Fear can be incredibly useful. Fear can be your friend in just the right doses. There is healthy fear and there is unhealthy fear. Fear can preserve your life from doing stupid stuff. Fear of breaking the law and fear of angering others can prevent you from making stupid choices.
There is one fear that stands out, among all other fears that we ought to nurture, and that is the fear of the Lord. Proverbs tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Here’s why. God knows what you are thinking, even when no one else does. God knows what you are doing even when no one else is around.
So it is essential that we gain an attitude of respect toward God, which includes a healthy dread of displeasing Him. So how do you gain a healthy fear of God? #1 Recognize his presence daily and cultivate his presence. Spend time in prayer with the Almighty. #2 Meditate on God’s Word and the majestic greatness of God. Remind yourself he is all powerful. #3 Act as though God is with you at all times, because He is. When you fail, admit that you’ve been caught. When you are wrong, seek his forgiveness.
2 Corinthians 5:10 gives us another way to cultivate the fear of God. Recognize that God will one day reprimand your wrongdoings and reward your obedience. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. If you want to get better, cultivate fear.
The Motivation of Love
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
The Love of Christ compels us. Fear motivates, but only in proper doses. Love also motivates. It is a higher motivation. In fact, Jesus said that the number one thing you can do is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Virtually nothing motivates a person more than love. Being deeply loved gives you strength, loving deeply gives you courage. When I look at the great men and women in literature, art, music, science and achievement, I notice one defining commonality between all of them –they did what they did because they loved it! They overcame because Love is motivational.
Love is compelling. Love is a motivation that will produce lasting change in your life. You do what you love, and you avoid hurting those you do love. The love of Christ compels us – verse 15 – so that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us. If you fall in love with Jesus, You will soon quit living destructively, and begin living for Him! That’s what love does! Love compels us to change.
Above all things, cultivate your love for Jesus. Remind yourself daily how much you love Jesus and want to serve Him. Tell Jesus that you’ll serve him and obey him and do anything He says. Love intensely, and love will change your life.
The Highest Motivation
1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
The highest motivation of all is the Glory of God. If you are only trying to get better because of you, your motivation will be limited to what you can do. But if you want Divine transformation, you must have your motivation right! You must decide to live a pure life because it pleases God. You must want to overcome sin because it displeases God. You must decide right now that the purpose of your entire life, and every action of your life is for the highest reason ever: to glorify God!
What does it mean “to glorify God?” Glorifying God means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honor by bowing before him because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honored and worshipped.
Notice the implications of this: Vs 19 “You are a temple.” “…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.” In order to do things for God’s glory, in order to experience real life change, you must understand that God made your body as a temple – that means that your body was made for God to inhabit – the Holy Spirit lives in you, and you were made to worship , so you should cultivate worship as part of your daily routine.
The second implication is in verse 19 and 20- “You are not your own, you were bought with a price.” In order to truly change, you must recognize who your master and owner is. Christian, God owns you! You don’t have rights over your own thoughts, your own time, your own actions; God owns you so that you have a duty to obey him! So take a moment right now to adjust your motivation so that your only purpose in existence is Jesus.
We want to change, but change is so hard!
Have you ever switched from junk foods to healthful foods and felt sick to your stomach? Or stopped smoking and nearly chewed your fingers off? Have you cut back on watching television, spending or gambling and noticed how your former compatriots in those activities tried to nudge you back into doing those things? You need the right kind of motivation to effect real change!
According to the research of Dr. Anders Ericsson, motivation is the most significant predictor of success. Dr. Ericsson found that experts in many walks of life, whether sport, music, chess, dance, or business, had put in the most hours at their craft. He coined the phrase, “It takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to become an expert.” In other words, the most successful people just keep plugging away longer than others. Finding the motivation to change means maintaining your efforts consistently when it would be easy to give up.[v]
The most successful people just keep plugging away longer than others. Why is the relationship between motivation and success so robust? Because high motivation will ensure you keep going when everyone else quits.
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing.. That’s why we recommend it daily.”
What’s my motivation for wanting to change? Fear of failure is a good place to start. Love for God is life changing. And giving yourself up t to live for Jesus and the glory of God will take you where you need to go.
In closing let me give you the three Ds of motivation: The first D stands for direction. Before you can change, you must first consider the direction you should go in your life. In our case the direction is downward to the knees to please God. The second D represents decision. Once you know the direction, you must choose to head in that direction. Choose this day, whom you will serve! The third D stands for dedication. Once you’ve made your decision, you must dedicate yourself to it.
- Yes! I want to live my life for the glory of God! Dear Jesus, I am all yours!
[i] http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/how-our-society-breeds-anxiety-depression-and-dysfunction
[ii] http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
[iii] http://www.businessinsider.com/new-years-resolutions-courses-2016-12
[iv] https://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/#c3806bb596b2
[v] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201201/personal-growth-motivation-the-drive-change