INTRODUCTION

\These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 
They worship me in vain...\  (Mark 7:6,7)

Motivation is one of the most difficult subjects to understand.  Why do I do what I do for God?  Is it for the \right reason\?  Did I commit my life to Christ because I was lonely?  Do I need to be re-baptized?  Do I continue to stick with God and the Church because I am really afraid to be lonely?  Or because I want to date and eventually get married?  Or because I want to save my marriage?  Or because I want my life to succeed?  Or because I am motivated more by guilt?  Or because my family would be a mess without God and the church?  Or because of a fear of judgment?  Or just because it is the right thing to do?  There is probably nothing that Christians question and doubt more in their lives than their motivation.  We have all had questions like these pop into our heads.

The truth is, people today are constantly analyzing and scrutinizing, \Why did I do that?\  Why do I keep on doing that?  Why do I have such a hard time making daily time for God? Why am I not more motivated to read my Bible and pray?  Sigmund Freud profoundly influenced psychology by attaching a deep (and almost mysterious) reason to every decision that we make--usually by blaming someone or something else outside of taking personal responsibility.

We know that there are sinful motivations.  Simon was rebuked sharply for getting baptized so that he could monetarily profit from the gift of the Holy Spirit.  (Acts 8:20-23)  Paul warned Timothy, the evangelist, about some men who wormed their way into the homes of younger weak-willed women in the church, under the guise of helping them, but really in order to gain favors. (2 Timothy 3:6)  Paul exposed the sinful motives of some who evangelized, motivated by selfish ambition, envy and rivalry.  (Philippians 1:15-17) 

Jesus warned his disciples, \Beware of the teachers of the law.  They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They devour widows\' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers.  Such men will be punished most severely.\   (Luke 20:46-47)  Make no mistake--there can be and are sinful motivations that are condemned by God.  We must take care that we not fall prey to such unrighteous temptations.

However, I would like to address the other side of motivation:  the godly ones.  Although we do need to avoid the sinful motivations, it appears that God is more concerned that we focus on the spiritual reasons for living for God rather than the unspiritual ones; the sheer number of verses that address spiritual motivations far outweigh warnings against the unspiritual ones. 

Speaking of \right motivations\, how many are there?  I have heard so many Christians question whether they were motivated \for the right reason\, as if there were just one.  Is there just one godly motivation? And if that one doesn\'t prompt us to do everything we do, is it better to just return to the world and give up trying to live for God?  These are legitimate questions that need to be answered by God\'s revelation.

Unfortunately, we make faulty assumptions that become the foundation for all kinds of doubts and reactions.   I believe a major inaccurate conclusion that many sincere disciples have fallen into is that there is just one \right reason\ to live the Christian life.  Nowhere does the Bible espouse or imply such a belief.  Yet I have seen many disciples through the years not only believe such a doctrine, but also become discouraged and give up because of it.   Over the next several weeks, we will publish a series of lessons on this subject.  We will let God\'s Word answer the question about godly motivations.  We will see that there are really numerous godly motivations for living the Christian life that are completely acceptable to God, our Father.